United We Stand, Divided We Fall
by dreamsofyesterday1
Summary: Part 27 of the Robyn series. In the fallout from the events at the end of Chaos Theory cracks begin to show in the Network and Robbie's past comes back to haunt him.
1. Chapter 1

United We Stand, Divided We Fall

Part 27 of the Robyn Series

As she had done on that day she stood, her arms hugging her body as she gazed out over the lake. She could remember everything that had happened as though it had happened yesterday. She could remember Boris' scream as Lily had pulled his arm from his body. She could still feel her mother's pleasure as she'd prepared herself to land that fatal final blow, her rage as she'd been interrupted. She could remember her own anger burning as she'd dived into the lake, the icy cold water threatening to take her breath away. She remembered her thoughts being focussed only on finding her mother, focussed on vengeance.

Revenge for her friends, revenge for her family, revenge for her.

But her mother was gone. There had been no sign. She'd wanted to scream as they'd grabbed her, pulling her to the surface. She'd wanted to fight them but her lungs had started to constrict, demanding she breathe. As they'd broken the surface her lungs had been gratified with the oxygen they craved. She'd felt the arms of one of the men that had dived in to get her holding her tightly as he dragged her to the shore. They'd fallen around her, collapsing as they'd reached the shore.

She remembered feeling Langford's desperation as he did everything he could for his leader, his emotion breaking his voice as Boris had closed his eyes. His shouts as he tried to get his friend to wake up, his frantic movements as he'd tried to resuscitate him. She could remember seeing Boris' spirit standing over his body, his eyes wide as he saw himself lying motionless. Fear, disbelief and pain radiated from him as he'd turned imperceptibly slowly to look at her. He'd looked again at his body, jumping back as the helicopter rescue team arrived and pushed Langford out of the way so they could do their work. His eyes found hers again as they seemed to ask her what was happening.

He couldn't understand.

"You shouldn't be out here," Langford's voice broke through her reminiscences as he came to stand behind her. "Especially not after what..." He paused; on some of the pebbles at his feet he could still see traces of blood. Boris' blood.

He could vividly remember the exact spot Boris had fallen. His position as he'd tended to him. He could still hear Lily's laughter, cut off by a scream as she was thrown by an invisible force into the lake. He'd not heard the roar of the rotor blades as the air ambulance arrived; he'd only been able to hear his own internal rhythm as he'd carried out chest compressions. He'd felt himself being pushed away, his mind screaming at him that they couldn't do this, they couldn't stop him helping his friend. He could remember being held back by his men as he'd tried to carry on what he'd started. In his loss of control his grip on his emotions had cracked and he'd felt tears sting his eyes as he'd shouted incoherently.

He couldn't lose his friend.

"It's all my fault." Robyn sighed, holding herself tighter. Images from Langford's mind drifting into hers.

Langford's head shot up, "Your fault? None of what happened here is your fault. How could anything Lily does be your fault?"

"I didn't sense her. If I'd sensed her I could have warned Boris, I could have stopped her."

"I don't know how your ability works but I'm pretty sure that you can't sense everybody all of the time. You can't blame yourself for one mistake."

Robyn lowered her head, "But it wasn't just one mistake was it? I let Morgan go and he kills the priest. You found the body of the man that was helping him; your team is still looking for his head. How many more people are going to die as a direct result of my actions?"

"I don't know." There was no answer he could give her. ""I should tell you that Olaf is coming back, he's on his way here. He's convinced himself that you're responsible for the priest's death. Boris protected you last time and I will try my best to do the same but I'm not him. Either way I can't say for certain that you won't get any backlash this time, he's determined to take you down. I'd prepare myself to ride a storm if I were you."

Taking a deep breath as she raised her head, Robyn turned it to face Langford, her body following behind. "I'm ready."


	2. Chapter 2

Their entrance into the town seemed in stark contrast to the last time they had arrived as their black cars drove with deliberate slowness down the long road from the tunnel. In a line they travelled forwards in a constant stream of motion that seemed never to accelerate or decelerate. Evenly spread they traversed the winding roads of the town, fanning out in a synchronised display of organisation as they came to a smooth, silent stop at various points around the town. Those that watched what was happening could feel tension not only in themselves but the Network officers patrolling. They'd not forgotten how, like the team's namesake, they'd swept in like a tide and torn everyone from their homes. They wondered at how their entry could be so different but no less dramatic. There was a silent threat in the way that none of those within the cars seemed to move as they turned off the engines of their vehicles

One by one they opened their doors. One by one four men exited each of the four cars. Fifteen out of the sixteen men remained by the side of their vehicles as their team leader strolled with an arrogant casualness towards the building that served as the base for the Network. Of those officers that had been on patrol and watched the slow progress of the vehicles into the town, one of them halted Olaf and stood in front of him while another entered the base. Seconds later they returned, Langford following behind them.

Olaf forced a smile that conveyed little more than mocking, "Langford." He said shortly, "I understand you're holding the fort in Boris' absence."

"Don't come it with me, Olaf." Langford threatened, leaning in close to the Red Tide leader, "I'm not afraid of showing you where you can put your smarmy attitude."

"Indeed. But don't doubt that I will let your insubordination go without punishment. Now where is Robyn?"

Langford moved back from Olaf and smiled his own scorning smile, "If you can come into town with that much perverse organisation I'm sure you can find Robyn on your own. I know for certain that she's not shacked up with Morgan and hasn't seen Lily since she attacked Boris so she must be around here somewhere."

Snorting with annoyance, Olaf's smile descended into a frown. He had expected nothing less than Langford's gibed but his expectation had left him ill prepared for its reality. Unwilling to allow Langford any more free shots or waste any more time in a contest of idle threats, Olaf turned away and headed straight for Robyn's house. Though his arrogance remained in every footstep his casualness had dissipated. He hated this tiny tin pot town with its tiny tin pot inhabitants and their tiny tin pot minds but he especially hated the young woman he'd been sent to question.

Banging on the door he let himself in and found her sitting on the sofa. She half turned her head to look at him before turning back to the book she was reading, ignoring him. He kept his cool though her impudence threatened to spark his ire. He'd already been irked by Langford and he didn't need this young whelp to do the same. Standing in the doorway he could survey the room, it was simply decorated with tasteful furnishings with the exception of a garish orange fuzzy chair and in its simplicity it seemed reasonably minimalistic.

"Shut the door, you're letting all the heat out. Preferably from the other side of it." Robyn said without looking up from her book.

Olaf grimaced as he stepped inside the house and slammed the door. He wasn't going to stand for her cheekiness much longer. She was walking on very treacherous ground by baiting him and he knew well that she had every understanding what would happen if she pushed him too far. Almost stomping over to her he grabbed the book from her hands and threw it across the room. He clenched his fist as she simply looked up at him with a sly smile and a raised eyebrow but he held it firmly by his side. He'd risen this far to her bait, he wasn't going to rise any further. As she leant back in the sofa and moved her legs up onto it he seated himself on the coffee table, sitting directly opposite her.

He got straight to the point, "I am here to question you regarding your involvement in the murder of Father Joshua Donohague. If I have reasonable belief that you were an accessory to the murder I can petition for full authorisation to arrest you."

"You already believe I'm accessory to the murder." Robyn stated bluntly, "As far as you're concerned by my helping Morgan escape I'm directly responsible for that priest dying, not to mention Morgan's accomplice. Why question me regarding something you are convinced I'm guilty of? Why not simply arrest me and have done?"

"I would very much like to arrest you, as I would have liked to arrest you when you were found to have aided in Morgan's escape. Unfortunately, it isn't as clean cut as that and though at the time you claimed to have worked alone I'm sure someone, somewhere along the line, helped you. When I find out who it is, I will have every pleasure arresting you both. Considering my actions on our last meeting and the fact that I seem to be considered biased against you I can only question you informally. However, in light of the recent occurrences I have put through a recommendation that you are formally interrogated." Olaf sat back triumphantly, his eyes glinting with a self satisfied pride.

"Interrogated like Boris was interrogated after his arrest when the truth came out about Elias, you mean."

Robyn's directness chipped Olaf's victory and the way she seemed relaxed about what she would face made it seem so hollow. His eyes narrowed as his smug smile evaporated and he rose from the coffee table. Her eyes followed him as he stood and left the house, throwing the door open as he came to it and slamming it shut as he exited. She stared at the door for a while, expecting him to return but as time elapsed and he didn't come back she centred her head. Now alone she could allow herself to drop the front she had held onto, the mask she'd hid her emotions behind slipped as a single tear fell from her eyes.

She was frightened.

Knowing that it wouldn't be long before her solitude was disturbed she brushed away her fallen tear and buried her fear. Whatever came would come and she would face it. She would face the consequences of her actions. She wouldn't run from her responsibility and she wouldn't reveal Robbie's involvement in her aiding Morgan's escape, she wouldn't break her promise to him.

Swinging her legs down she stood up from the sofa and walked towards her book had landed. As she bent down to pick it up her head swam suddenly and she had to steady herself against the wall. Holding her hand to her forehead for a moment she waited for the room to stop spinning before trying to reach for the book again. She pulled it off the floor quickly before steadying herself against the wall again. The hand that she had held to her forehead now covered her mouth as her stomach heaved. She swallowed down the bile as her head throbbed. When she felt it was safe she moved slowly towards the sofa and sat down on it again, opening the book she tried to focus on the words printed inside but they made no sense to her. Sighing, she set the book aside and leant her head back on the sofa.

As she felt the room start to spin again she kept thinking, 'Just breathe, just keep breathing.'


	3. Chapter 3

As Olaf walked back to his car he noticed Langford and a sizeable amount of his men watching him from their base. They leant on the wall of the gymnasium, arms folded. His own men had not moved from their vehicles, they were too well trained to defy his orders. If required they would spring into action but until then they observed their surroundings and awaited orders. He stopped walking as Langford broke from his group and sauntered over to him, his arms still crossed and an impertinent smile gracing his face. He could tell that by the look on Langford's face that it was evident he hadn't gotten the result he'd desired and it had showed in the way that he had marched from the house. Bristling at himself and how he'd foolishly given Langford more ammunition to throw at him he readied himself for another round of gibed.

"Go well did it?" Langford queried, eyebrow raised. "I take it you didn't quite get out of talking to her what you thought you would seeing as you look about as happy as the chap that killed his father."

"I didn't get what I wanted this time but I will, I can promise you that. By whatever means necessary." Olaf retorted, clenching his fist to emphasise what he meant.

Langford raised both eyebrows and dropped his arms as he moved in closer to Olaf, "You're a pussy Olaf. Only pussy men hit women...women that aren't Lily anyway. If I hear that if you've even so much as brushed her with your little finger I will have you."

"I'm sure SIU would love that. They're coming here to interrogate Robyn, perhaps I can get them to add your name to the people they might want to investigate as being Rogue."

"Special Investigations Unit, hmm? It's funny you mention that because they called me while you were in with Robyn. Turns out that after your little parade around here last time Boris filed a formal complaint against you. If they're coming to see Robyn anyway I'm sure they'd be able to take a statement from her, it wouldn't be too much trouble for them."

Olaf felt his fist tighten as his jaw set but he squashed down the impulse to wipe Langford's smug smile off his face. He would have to confirm for himself that what Langford had said was true but until then he couldn't afford to make an even greater case against himself for misconduct. There were too many witnesses as he looked around him and saw the residents of the town and the two Sportacus' watching everything that was going on. Turning one last glare to Langford he stepped back and moved round him, continuing his retreat back to his car until Langford said something to his back that made him stop dead in his tracks.

"I just thought I'd let you know that they're not issuing Elias fanmail or newsletters anymore. They kind of stopped doing those when I scooped his head up and threw it in the nearest dustbin. Sorry, Olaf. You were kissing his arse for how many years? I bet it was a bit of a blow that your idol was having his testicles tickled by the very woman you were assigned to deal with."

Reaching his tipping point, Olaf grabbed his baton and whirled round. As he did so Langford's men moved from the wall, hands ready on the hilts of theirs. As part of the chain reaction Olaf's men started forward from their vehicles. Sportacus and Nine moved from their positions in an attempt to stop the two sides coming together in a fight but knew that if one broke out they were outnumbered. Every step that Olaf took towards Langford forced both opposing sides of their men to take steps forward as well. As the situation seemed to break down a shout rang out that forced everyone to stop still where they were standing, frozen in the process of their movement.

Mayor Meanswell pushed himself through the gathered horde of Olaf's men and stood in the centre, "I will not tolerate this behaviour in my town!" He yelled, continuing on from his shouting at the men to stop, "Mr Olaf, if you were leaving I suggest you do so. Be assured that after what you did to Robyn last time you were here and the behaviour I have witnessed today I will also be having strong words with your superiors."

Unwilling to compromise his position by disobeying a direct order from the Mayor, Olaf conceded and stood down. As he placed his weapon back in its holster he rounded up his men and they returned to their vehicles, he stood beside his car as he watched the Mayor reproach Langford.

"Mr Langford," The Mayor began in the sternest voice he could muster after his stern words with Olaf, "You have a job here to do in town, I trust you to continue doing it and act appropriately when doing so." In a hushed voice the Mayor added, "But thank you for standing up to that horrible man."

Langford smiled before quickly pretending to have been severely reprimanded, "Yes Mr Mayor. I apologise for my behaviour and I will endeavour to ensure that it doesn't happen again."

Mayor Meanswell nodded his approval before hobbling back the way he had come. Having seen what he judged as Langford getting his just desserts, Olaf opened his car door and started to climb inside when Langford stopped him.

"Olaf, say hello to your mother for me won't you?" He taunted, grabbing his crotch.

It took all of Olaf's resolve to get in the car and drive off without running Langford over. If looks could kill he was sure Langford would have been long dead as he scowled at him on his drive out of town. There would come a time when he would get his own back and this wouldn't be the last time he'd come to town. All he had to do was be patient and wait to see Langford's stupid smile fade from his face as he watched Robyn being led away by SIU, under arrest and on her way to facing punishment for her misdemeanours.

With the show over for the moment, Langford signalled for his men to go about their business. Some of them high fived him as he headed back into the base and those that were heading out on patrol did so with their spirits high. In their near altercation with Olaf's men they'd found the opportunity to let off some steam, tension that had been within them since Lily had attacked their leader.

Feeling a need to ensure that Robyn was alright after Olaf's visit, Sportacus ran over to her house. Knocking briefly on the door he let himself in and found Robyn curled up on the sofa, her eyes closed tightly. A little concerned to find her sleeping in the day and just after Olaf had left, he crept over to her and sat beside her. Reaching a hand out, he touched it to her forehead, feeling for a temperature. Her eyes moved beneath their lids but she didn't wake. Taking his hand from her forehead he brushed her hair back behind her ears, a frown forming on his forehead.

"Robyn?" He said softly.

Stirring, Robyn opened her eyes and blinked before focussing on Sportacus and smiling slightly. "Hi." She greeted before stretching herself out, "I must have drifted off."

"Are you ok? It's not like you to fall asleep just like that. Where's Robbie?"

Hearing the stairs creak, Sportacus looked up and found his answer as a sleepy looking Robbie came down the stairs digging his orange fuzz ear plugs out of his ears. He looked at Robyn and smiled before noticing Sportacus' frown.

"I've been having a nap upstairs for the last hour. What did I miss?" Robbie queried, oblivious to the furore that had been happening outside.


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone had breathed a sigh of relief as Olaf had left with the rest of his men, no one had breathed deeper than Mayor Meanswell. Once he'd scuttled away after reprimanding Olaf and pretending to scold Langford he'd hidden himself away behind his desk in the Town Hall. As he rifled through his drawers he tried to remember just where he'd put the list of telephone numbers he'd been given when the Network had moved into the town but so far it eluded him. Amongst all of the tumult of months of paperwork going in and out of his filing cabinet and on and off his desk he was sure it had to have ended up somewhere, lost somewhere in the space of his office. He'd never had reason to use any of the numbers but after his altercation with Olaf he had every intention to make good on his promise that he would contact the officer's superiors.

Giving up on his search he wondered whether he should ask Bessie if she knew where it was. She'd always had a better understanding of the filing system than he had, that much seemed obvious as it had been her that had invented it, but he was nervous of the reaction he'd get. Every time he had asked her where she'd put something she'd told him off, agitatedly showing him where she had put it. Her system seemed entirely logical to her but to him it made entirely no sense.

If he wanted information regarding the Network there was only one place and one person he could get it from.

Rising from his desk he made the walk to the gymnasium, the building he'd offered the Network to set up their base after Lily had torched their other one. To all intents and purposes he'd heard that the bigger space had given them more room as far as living arrangements were concerned but never having been inside since they'd taken it over or having seen their old base, he had no base for comparison on how they used it. As he approached he observed the changeover for those going out on patrol and those coming back. They noticed his movement towards them and ushered him in, one of the men coming off of patrol moving ahead of him to let Langford know of his arrival. Another led the way and he followed diligently behind him.

Passing through the entranceway and down the short corridor the Mayor could barely recognise the old gymnasium as it had been. The old reception was left much as it had been but the posters lining the walls had been taken down and patrol schedules were posted in their place. He noted that the two doors leading through to the changing rooms had been altered, they had had the sigils denoting the genders appropriate to them removed and had instead signs saying 'Khazis' and 'Showers'. Walking down the long windowed corridor between the two sports halls the gymnasium had, beyond the foyer, he could see in the bigger of the two sports halls sleeping bags were scattered all around the floor, some were occupied while others lay empty. In amongst the sleeping bags were personal effects belonging to their owners, trinkets and photographs, books and other assorted items. In the smaller of the two sports halls he could see three sofas and five beanbags interspaced with low tables.

As he followed the Network officer to the end of the corridor and to the right he looked to his left and caught a glimpse of where the weight lifting machines and treadmills had been in the main workout room. Hearing the clink of weights connecting with one another he smiled inwardly at the knowledge that at least they were making use of the equipment and hadn't changed anything on this end of the building. Just beyond him he could see the small cafeteria the gymnasium had housed and inside were officers eating out of take away boxes while others were talking loudly, their conversations pausing when they saw him. Not knowing what else to do he waved and they waved back at him.

Passing by the cafeteria the Mayor recognised the entrance to the management suites and was ushered through the door to follow the officer that had gone ahead of him to let Langford know of his arrival. In a few short paces he found himself standing in the open doorway of what had become Langford and Boris' office. Langford stood up from his desk and gestured for him to enter, as he did so he found the door closed behind him. Standing awkwardly for a moment he looked sheepishly at Langford.

"Please take a seat, Mr Mayor." Langford instructed, indicating Boris' empty chair.

Mayor Meanswell walked over to the chair and sat down upon it, almost falling off as it rotated without warning. He coloured slightly as he sat himself better in the chair and smiled with slight embarrassment.

Langford smiled reassuringly, "Don't worry, that used to happen to Boris all the time if he wasn't concentrating." His smile faded as his thoughts turned momentarily to his superior, his friend.

"It was a terrible thing." Mayor Meanswell cooed before deciding it might be best to change the subject and steer Langford from his course of sadness, "I'm sorry to come unannounced, I couldn't find the list of telephone numbers for your headquarters that Elias gave me and wondered if you could write them out for me again."

"Oh don't worry about that, Mr Mayor. This is your town after all; you have every right to go where you please though admittedly we don't exactly have an open door policy. After what happened with Olaf I was kind of expecting to see you anyway, if you intend to complain about me as well then please by all means do so. I behaved unprofessionally."

"I wouldn't dream of reporting you, Mr Langford. Not at all. I only wish to talk to your superiors about Olaf."

Langford smiled, reassured. "Thank you, Mayor. I'll get those numbers for you though at this point in time I would say that speaking to my superiors may not be necessary. I'm sure you heard Olaf mention the SIU."

"Yes I did, what is that?"

"They're another branch of the Network. I guess the easiest way to explain it is they're the equivalent of Internal Affairs to the police. In our work we have to adhere to strict policies and procedures and a pretty lengthy code of conduct. Normally any breach of those is dealt with division leaders, like Boris, but in extreme circumstances or especially in cases where it's assumed someone has gone Rogue, they come in to sort it out. They endeavour to know everything about everything there is anything to know anything about the people they come to investigate. I'm afraid to say that their sights are set firmly on Robyn and they're going to interrogate her based on Olaf accusing her of helping Lily and still helping Morgan."

Mayor Meanswell opened his eyes wide as he exclaimed, "Oh my!"

"Indeed. They're going to drag her over the coals in exactly the same way they did Boris. I can't say I've had the pleasure of being interrogated by them and from what little Boris could tell me the way they go about getting the information they want they could pretty much convince you that you're guilty of raping your own mother."

"Oh my!"

Langford couldn't help but smile at Mayor Meanswell's repeated 'oh my' and he was sure he would hear another before he had finished speaking, "As Mayor you have a certain amount of weight and can impose an injunction on how long they can question her for and limit the measures they take. I have to admit that Robyn's stronger than a lot of people give her credit for but I've heard what they can do. Of all of Elias' team processed for questioning only Boris and two others made it through unscathed. Many of the others fell apart, suffered nervous breakdowns. Gable, Elias' medical officer, hung himself. He'd been cleared of any involvement with Lily but the news broke too late for him. I have submitted a request to represent Robyn and hopefully I can shield her from some of the flack they throw at her. If you choose to put forward the injunction you have twenty four hours to do so."

Taking in the information, Mayor Meanswell nodded. He feared for Robyn and his own nerves at the sound of the people coming to his town. As Langford scribbled down all of the phone numbers he'd need he wondered just what measures they might take in her interrogation.

Taking the slip of paper that contained the numbers he needed when Langford held it out for him he smiled and thanked him before leaving the gymnasium and heading back to the Town Hall. He had a lot of phone calls to make.


	5. Chapter 5

On her second shift of the week at the hospital, Kathleen sighed when she looked at the list of patients she'd been assigned. All of them save for one were perfectly pleasant but it was this particular one that brought her mood right down. As her first patient of the morning what happened with him would set the tone for the rest of her shift. He'd been on her ward for a week and in that time he'd sent three nurses running out of his room in tears, one of them male, and alienated most of the other medical staff. Many of her colleagues had started going into his room in pairs, too scared to go in alone. At least by doubling up they could do what they needed to do more quickly and get out before feeling the lash of his tongue. It was a tactic that had seemed to work for the most part but there was something about going into the patient's room and rushing through things that Kathleen didn't like. Despite everything she'd heard about the man and witnessed having come across him yesterday she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He'd suffered a tragic accident and was evidently in a lot of pain. She tried to keep reminding herself that for the most part his moroseness was brought on by the pain and the repercussions of what had happened to him.

Bracing herself for another encounter with him she kept saying to herself, '_His bark is worse than his bite, Kat. You can do this Kat. Stay calm and be nice. Give him as much time as you'd give anyone. He's just in pain, he doesn't mean what he says or doesn't mean to act the way he does, it's just the pain talking. Don't take it personally; he's not angry with you._'

Taking a deep breath as she raised her hand to knock on the door she felt a person tap her on the shoulder. Looking round she saw one of her colleagues bustling past with a patient in a wheelchair, looking back at her mouthing 'good luck' to her before turning back and carrying on her way. This didn't help her determination to face things out but she knew she had no choice. Knocking on the door she waited for her patient to call her in and entered the room quickly when he did so.

Smiling pleasantly at her patient she picked up his chart to see what had been going on since she'd last been in with him, "How are you feeling this morning, Mr Andryukhin?"

"I'm tired and in pain."

"It says here you didn't sleep too well last night. You were quite unsettled when the night staff checked on you."

"Of course I'm going to be unsettled, you stupid people keep coming in here and waking me up to take my blood pressure and count how many breaths I'm taking."

Kathleen lowered her eyes momentarily as she bit her upper lip. She could understand his frustration, it was something other patients had complained about but rules were rules. It was part of their duty during the night to check their patient's vital observations and especially in a case that had been as serious as his.

By the time he'd been airlifted to them he'd lost a lot of blood. They'd been able to restart his heart before they'd loaded him on the helicopter and flown him through straight to the major trauma centre at the hospital. He'd been anaesthetised and rushed straight into theatre, while one team repaired what was left of his arm and the blood vessels around it another was working to fix the damage done to his abdomen. He'd pulled through the surgery and while there was no lasting damage to his abdomen, there was little they could do for his arm. Torn from his shoulder joint, there was nothing left of his arm except for his shoulder itself. After waking from his operation he'd remained stable, blood transfusions replacing the blood he'd lost. Initially he'd had no memory of what had happened, asking the nurses why he couldn't feel his right arm.

When he'd seen for himself he'd been devastated.

Shaking off the stinging from his last comment, Kathleen looked back up at her patient. "I understand if you want to decline having your blood pressure taken and want to rest but we will need to do it at some point today. If you allow me to do it now I can leave you to sleep and speak with your doctor about cutting down the amount of times we have to check on you at night."

Instead of giving her a verbal answer, Kathleen's patient raised his remaining arm, indicating for her to slide on the blood pressure cuff and do what she'd come in to do. Bringing his file with her she placed it on the bed before putting on the blood pressure cuff and turning on the machine. As it took his blood pressure she went over to the other side of the bed and checked his dressings.

"These look alright; I don't think we'll need to change them until tomorrow. You mentioned you were in pain, did you want some pain relief?"

Her patient shook his head, "I just want to sleep."

Kathleen accepted her patient's answer but she wasn't convinced he should go without pain relief. Unwilling to question him or go against his word she let the matter lie and assumed he'd let her know if he changed his mind. When the blood pressure machine beeped to say it was finished she wrote down the results on his chart and removed the cuff.

"It's a little bit high but you've been unsettled so that's to be expected. Before I go I was told to let you know that the occupational therapist is coming to see you tomorrow afternoon to get you started with rehabilitation and learning to use your left hand the same way you did your right. When he's satisfied that you'll be able to cope alright with minimal support you'll be discharged."

"Thank you, Nurse..."

"Kathleen, just call me Kathleen...or Kat, everyone else does. I'll let you sleep now, Mr Andryukhin."

"Please, call me Boris."

Kathleen nodded briefly and left the room with a smile.

Mayor Meanswell sat at his desk in the Town Hall, in front of him a sheet of notes he'd made while conversing with Langford's superiors at the Network Headquarters. He'd followed Langford's advice and put forward an injunction limiting the measures the SIU could use when questioning Robyn but he'd been unable to shift their decision on how they'd question her for in one sitting. As far as they were concerned if she was innocent it wouldn't take the full amount of time for them to question her but if they had any suspicions based on what she told them they were going to make full use of the twenty hour sessions they'd made everyone else they'd questioned endure.

His only other success that came out of the exhausting phone calls was that they had assured him that Olaf would be next on the list of people they were going to question and he'd be barred from entering the town again. It had to count for something at least.


	6. Chapter 6

It was early. She'd barely begun to awaken from her sleep when they hammered on her door. Caught in the mystical realm between waking and sleeping, where dreams seem almost as though they were real life, she'd thought the sound of their voices downstairs was all part of her imagination, the sound of their boots marching up the stairs another trick of her mind until they banged on her bedroom door. Moving her duvet off of her she started to sit herself but her head began to spin and she fell back down. As they hammered again, calling her name from the other side of the door she tried again to sit herself up. Clamping her legs on the side of the bed as she swung them over she used her abdominal muscles to help her sit up. Without warning as she sat upright she felt a thunderclap of pain that made her feel as if her head would split open. Biting her lip she breathed raggedly through the pain until it dulled to a constant throb. She remained sitting there with her eyes closed, scared to open them in case the room would whirl around in front of her. Hammering again on the door they opened it, with her back to them they couldn't see her silent struggle as she opened her eyes only to close them again rapidly.

With an effort she turned her shoulders slightly as she heard the sound of their footsteps coming towards her. Slowly opening her eyes she looked at them, two men in uniforms similar to those of the regular Network officers with the exception of their colour. Their charcoal grey leather uniforms looked almost wet in the dim light. An insignia bearing their designation of SIU operatives was displayed on their left lapel. They looked back at her as she studied them, so far they had said nothing but she could feel an air of uncertainty emanating from them. Had they seen her pain?

One of the two stepped forward, moving himself so he was in front of her. His companion remained slightly behind her. Both shared a glance before the one in front of her knelt down, bringing his face level with hers.

"My name is Ari," The first introduced himself before indicating his colleague; "This is Dagur."

Robyn nodded, "And you've come to interrogate me. As much as I'm sure you're in a hurry to get started I'd like to get dressed first."

Ari looked to Dagur who nodded briefly. Turning his gaze back to Robyn he consented, "You have ten minutes. We'll be outside."

Robyn watched as Ari stood up from where he had been kneeling and followed him with her eyes until he was out of sight, as the door clicked shut she could hear them walking down the stairs. Lowering her head she placed it in her hands, it continued to throb though the room had ceased its spinning. Her stomach lurched as she tried to stand and for a moment she was convinced she was going to be sick. Taking her hands from her head she slowly raised it and tried again to stand up, breathing deeply to try to quell her stomach. Though she managed to stand without the wave of nausea passing over her again she had to grab hold of the wall to stop herself falling. Clenching her fist against the wall she forced herself to take a step away from it, placing one foot in front of the other until she reached her wardrobe. Holding on to it she closed her eyes and rested her head against it. As the room began to spin once more she could feel herself sliding down towards the floor.

When Ari and Dagur reached the bottom of the stairs they weren't surprised to find Langford standing beside the man identified to them as Robbie Rotten. Both men were stood with their arms folded, Langford sporting a stormy expression on his features while Robbie's features remained neutral.

"Well if it isn't the dumpster brothers." Langford said, recognising the two SIU operatives as those that were often placed on covert surveillance. "You're early."

Dagur shook his head, "We didn't specify a time, only a day. Is your base prepared for us?"

"It is. I took it that you wouldn't want to use our office so I have had another one set up. It's ready and waiting."

"Very good." Ari complimented before turning to Dagur, "I'll get our equipment ready. Langford can show me where to go. When Robyn comes out escort her over, I'll meet you outside the base."

This being said, Ari left the house followed by Langford. Robbie shifted himself uncomfortably, looking over at the stairs every so often while he was intensely aware that Dagur was keenly observing him. Under the man's scrutiny he wondered if there was something in his countenance that made him appear guilty though in having helped Robyn to aid Morgan's escape he was.

Leaving Ari to unlock his car and get his equipment together in whatever form it took, Langford returned to his base and passed through it to the communal lounge. As he entered everyone was stood still, silence filled the room where conversation often buzzed.

"I take it you already know the sniffers have arrived." Langford commented, at the numerous nods from his men he warned, "Stand by your bunks lads. Every skeleton you have hidden in the closet is about to jump out, grab you and swing you around for a barn dance."

There was a jolt of nervous tension as Ari rejoined Langford, his briefcase in hand. It was as though everyone was holding their breath as he passed among them, following Langford through to the back of the building and down a corridor leading to the right. Passing through a door he noticed the room serving as Langford and Boris' office. Following Langford further into the short corridor he entered the room indicated to him and looked around him. Four chairs had been set up at a rectangular table, two note pads had been laid out where he assumed he and his colleague were to sit. Walking over to the table he placed his briefcase upon it and opened it. From his briefcase he removed a recording device and set it up on the table. Before Ari closed the briefcase, Langford caught sight of something else, a flash of purple but it was obscured from view. It was something he felt sure he should recognise but he was uncertain.

Ten minutes had almost passed and Dagur was wondering if he would have to go back up the stairs and hurry along the woman he was meant to be interrogating. He could tell by the intervals in Robbie's looking over at the stairs growing smaller and smaller that the ex villain was wondering the same. He and his colleague hadn't missed her body language, the stiffness of her body as though she were in pain. Something wasn't right but they couldn't be sure it was merely a ruse to throw them off of interrogating her. By appearances she had only just awoken but that didn't satisfactorily explain what they had seen.

Unable to stop himself anymore and afraid that there was every paranoid possibility that Robyn could have shimmied herself down the drainpipe and run off, Robbie pushed past Dagur and climbed the stairs. Aware that Robyn could still be in a state of undress he knocked briefly on the door and slowly opened it. Entering the room he prepared himself to avert his eyes in case she wasn't ready but as he looked up he found her hunched on her hands and knees on the floor. She looked up at him, smiling weakly before shifting herself slowly so she was sitting on her bottom. He could feel his face contort with concern as he brought himself down to the floor, kneeling in front of her.

"What are you doing down here, kiddo?" He asked, trying to keep his tone light.

"I dropped something." Robyn lied though it hurt her to do so, "It must have rolled under the wardrobe. I'll fish it out later. I guess my ten minutes is almost up."

"It is and you're not ready yet. I don't think he's going to wait a lot longer."

"I'll throw something on; I have some outfits hanging up in here." Robyn knocked on the wardrobe for emphasis, "It won't take a minute."

Robbie nodded though he still couldn't shake his worry, "You're sure you're ok? You don't look so good."

"I just didn't sleep well last night, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I just need to get ready and head out."

"Ok. I'd better let you get yourself ready; I'll try to hold him off."

Robyn smiled and watched as Robbie stood up. He held out his hand and she took it as he helped her get up. It took all of her self control to remain standing and stop herself from clasping her head as another burst of pain ripped through it. She was sure he hadn't missed her momentary flinch as his brow furrowed but before he could pursue it she turned away and opened her wardrobe, pulling out an outfit.

Robbie took his cue as Robyn began to pull off her pyjama top and left the room. He closed the door behind him and walked down the stairs, smiling awkwardly at Dagur who seemed unimpressed at their generous ten minute limit being elapsed. Passing by him he sat himself heavily in his orange chair.

Something wasn't right but he really didn't know what.


	7. Chapter 7

"Session one commenced at 0800 hours." Ari began, speaking for the benefit of the recording device as he pushed down on a button to activate it. "Those present are Bonde Dagur, serial number SIU4918240, Langford Norman, serial number 77258L6993, myself Lyke Ari, serial number SIU4872098, civilian Robyn Rotten, subject of interrogation due to accusations of alliance with Lily and involvement of murder committed by Morgan. Device will record automatically from this point; all discourse will be between those present."

Taking his finger from the button on the recording device, Ari nodded when a light flashed twice to signify that his time stamp had been successful and their session could commence. He looked to Dagur who had removed some papers in a file from his briefcase and gave him a signal to speak. Dagur opened his file and browsed the first page before relaying information from it for the recording.

"Robyn Rotten, age twenty two. Date of birth, 2nd June 19-"

"What?" Robyn interrupted, stunned. "No one has ever been able to find out my exact date of birth."

"We found records archived at the Crazytown safe house in the abandoned Western Wing pertaining to Lily and her stay there. Your date of birth was documented on her file under the label Baby A, Morgan was Baby B." Ari explained. "They were under the belief that you were born prematurely, a consequence of keeping Lily heavily sedated for a long duration of time even during her pregnancy. But we're getting off point, this is not what we are here to discuss. You are aware of the accusations against you?"

"I am. You think I'm somehow still in contact with Lily and I helped Morgan kill the priest, on both counts you're wrong. I admit I helped Morgan escape here and I did so entirely on my own but I did not have anything to do with him murdering the priest. I have no idea where he is."

Dagur smirked, "You say you helped Morgan escape without help. We don't believe you."

"You recognise this device?" Ari asked, opening his briefcase and putting an item on the table.

At the sight of the modified 'noisy ball' Robyn froze.

"Evidence item placed on table is a purple ball monogrammed 'RR'. Used on day of Morgan's escape from Lazytown, emits a sound that sends those in its vicinity to sleep. You used it to render the men guarding Morgan unconscious so you could enter the Mayor's house undetected. How did you come across it?"

Shaking off her surprise Robyn looked at Ari, "I built it. It's mine."

"You know that's very interesting considering it was built approximately a year before you were born. We found a manufacture date inside it and the label, 'Rotten Inc.' inside the top shell." Dagur retorted. "The only other person in this town with the initials of RR and the owner of Rotten Inc is Robbie Rotten. This is his device and you used it, we found his fingerprints on it and we know he helped you. Now stop lying to us and tell us the truth!"

Ari joined in, "He gave you the device and you used it to help Morgan get away. You changed into his clothes and used yourself as a distraction so he could escape. He returns to Lily's hideout and extracts her after she has attacked the Red Tide team; you helped him escape so he could aid Lily's disappearance. He took her to another predetermined hideout and kept her out of the way there. When you were sighted in the church with Morgan you were conspiring with him to plan your next step, the priest overheard you and at Lily's order you helped Morgan get him out of the way. You concocted a plan that when the priest was killed you would receive his head in a gift wrapped box and you would react in such a way as to divert suspicion of your involvement away from you. You helped Morgan get the box and the CD before sending it to yourself via the parcel service."

"What?!" Robyn couldn't believe what she was hearing. Looking to her left side she could see that Langford shared her disbelief.

"When Boris began to investigate and his team in Greentown searched for Morgan's alleged accomplice you were worried that you would be exposed so you had Morgan line up another body, an innocent bystander that served as the perfect distraction. Is Morgan keeping his head for a souvenir?"

Langford bristled, "You have no evidence of that and you forget that the person aiding Morgan was recorded on CCTV at the parcel service. Robyn has not been sighted anywhere near there and has no connection with him. They found he kept a diary and there was no mention of Robyn, only of Morgan under the pseudonym he gave him of '_her_ son.' It detailed how Morgan had resided with him after you say he took Lily somewhere special and there was DNA found linking Morgan to the address written in the diary. He'd outlived his usefulness and when Morgan found he'd been keeping the diary he killed him. Now before we go off further into the realms of fiction hadn't you better ask Robyn what her version of events is or are you going to stick with your stupid ideas?"

Ari threw Langford a dark look before turning his attention back to Robyn, "Perhaps you could correct us where we have gone wrong?"

There was something in Ari's tone that told her he wasn't prepared to believe what she had to say but she knew she had to try. "I helped Morgan escape and I used myself as a distraction that much is true. I had no idea he was going to go back to Lily's hideout; I didn't know he was there until he knocked Lily out when she was hurting those men."

"Another carefully constructed display to allow Morgan time enough to get there so they could leave together, the show you put on when Lily was attacking those men was nothing more than an elaborate theatre show. Lily had never left her hideout had she? She was there when Langford and his men went to investigate it after you generously divulged its location. Red Tide Team Two was sent there due to an anomaly on the recording made in the basement, you knew they'd find her at that time so to divert their attention you faked a reaction to finding the dead body which caused all of them to leave and the search was called off."

"Oh so now you're suggesting she stopped her own heart?" Langford snapped, remembering well the day he'd had to resuscitate Robyn. "Not to mention that I have every belief as does every other witness during that time when Lily was mauling the Red Team men that what was happening was entirely genuine."

Ari and Dagur looked at one another. Their line of questioning was leading them nowhere though they could see they were wearing Robyn down. As time had progressed they could see she was becoming tired and was gradually looking more and more unwell as her stress levels rose. Still not willing to believe that she was doing anything less than feigning illness they proceeded.

Ignoring Langford and focussing on Robyn, Dagur pushed, "You claim you have no idea of where Morgan is. We still don't believe you. Where is Morgan hiding and where is Lily?"

She smiled slightly, sarcastically. "Did you know penguins fall over when they look up?"

Dagur and Ari looked at one another again before Dagur answered, "What has that got to do with anything?"

"Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer!" Robyn spat vehemently causing all the three men to look at her with surprise.


	8. Chapter 8

For a moment they sat in a stunned silence, trying to cogitate what had happened. Of the three men staring blankly at the young woman none of them were more shocked than Langford. Robyn's outburst had caught him off guard, throwing him completely with how out of character it appeared to be especially given the enormity of the situation facing her. He blinked twice before trying to wipe the slack jawed expression on his face into one more neutral. Shifting his head he looked at the two SIU operatives who were visibly pulling themselves together, looking back at him and silently questioning him whether this was deemed normal behaviour from the subject of their interrogating. Unconsciously he shook his head.

Clearing his throat slightly, Dagur looked at Robyn and proceeded with the session. "Should I take your reaction to being asked whether you know of Morgan and Lily's whereabouts as a suggestion that you do?"

Robyn remained silent, her eyes staring daggers at Dagur.

Unfazed, Dagur continued. "You know where she is and you have been conspiring with her. I will give you another scenario to think about. On the day that Boris was attacked you deliberately placed yourself in a position away from the town and outside of the normal patrol routes so that he would be vulnerable to attack. You distracted him long enough for Lily to arrive and stood by while she made an attempt on his life! When you dove into the lake to give chase you did so to sway suspicion from you and aid her escape, slowing down the officers that dived in after you down enough so they wouldn't see her!"

"That is a load of utter poppycock!" Langford shouted, almost standing from his chair. "Do you really honestly believe that?"

"I was out by the lake because I needed some space to think and to breathe after being stuck in the house for almost a week being constantly watched because people were worried about me after my relationship with my fiancé ended." Robyn protested, "Boris saw me leave the house and relaxed the patrol limit to allow me room to go where I needed to. I have not seen Lily since I was with her at her hideout and Morgan helped me escape from there. Before you jump in and interrupt me and try to tell me what I did and didn't do I'm going to tell you right now that Morgan told me about Elias working for Lily and his plan to frame my fiancé for Larry's murder. I didn't set up what happened."

Ari nodded, "You learned of Elias' plan to frame your fiancé and out of care for him you went with Morgan to Lazytown and exacted your revenge. You were angry with Elias, weren't you? You wanted him dead for what he'd done and when he tried to kidnap you it gave Morgan the perfect opportunity to act."

"For god's sake why won't you listen to me?" Robyn cried, folding her arms on the table and burying her face in them.

As Robyn's shoulders began to move up and down and they could hear muffled sobs coming from her, Langford looked grimly at the two SIU operatives. Their constant pushing, lobbying her with more and more accusations had made her cry. Getting up from his chair, Dagur left the room while Ari looked on as Langford rubbed Robyn's back, trying to comfort her. After a few minutes Dagur returned, a glass of water in his hand. Placing it down in front of her he resumed his seat.

"Robyn, here, have a drink poppet." Langford soothed, picking up the glass of water and holding it near Robyn.

It was more than she could do to lift her head and accept the glass of water from Langford. The constant throbbing in her head had become pounding and the more she felt herself getting worked up the more the room had felt as though it were rocking and spinning around her. Gradually she was able to sit up but a sharp jolt of pain tore through her, as she bit her lip she was sure the SIU operatives hadn't missed her pained expression this time. As she took the glass of water from Langford she avoided their gaze, keeping her eyes low, obscured by her lashes. With her spare hand she brushed away the tears streaking her face and took a draft from the glass.

When Robyn seemed to have calmed down enough to continue, Ari resumed his line of enquiry. "Going back slightly, you claim you had nothing to do with the murder of the priest yet Morgan names you in the message he scratched into the wall of the confessional. If he didn't interrupt you and you're not on your mother's side and following her orders, why did he kill the priest?"

"He panicked." Robyn's reply was simple.

"Panicked?" Dagur queried, "He killed him because he panicked?"

"You saw the note on the confessional wall? He had flashbacks of being drowned when the priest put him in the water. He thought he was being drowned so he reacted without fully realising what he'd done until it was too late."

Ari scoffed, "You really expect us to believe that? That it was just a simple knee jerk reaction? How would you know if you apparently weren't there?"

"I felt what Morgan felt through the confessional when I put my hand on the door frame. I saw what he saw."

"Oh yes, that's right. Because you're apparently psychic." Ari grinned sarcastically.

"You saw what he saw because you're psychic, like how you knew what Lily was doing to those men in her hideout because you're psychic." Dagur joined, making the quote sign with his fingers every time he said the word psychic. "What a load of mumbo jumbo!"

"Mumbo jumbo? Is that you think it is? Do you know what it's like to be in a crowded place and see at least three dozen more people than the people around you can see? Struggling to tell who's actually there and who's dead? Dodging people that walk straight through you. Feeling what other people feel and knowing what they think? Feeling how people died and knowing their last thought, feeling all of their fear and pain. You have no idea what it's like and you sit there calling it mumbo jumbo."

"It is!" Ari stated. "It's all rubbish! None of it is true!"

Robyn's eyes darkened as she sat forward, with all of her attention focussed on Ari she spoke. "You have a scar on your right shoulder from when you and your brother were playing pirates and you took it a little too far. Your star sign is Aquarius and you're scared of mushrooms. Your wife was having an affair with a 'very nice man', that ended when you found out and I hate to tell you but there's another 'very nice man' at your house right now." Without taking her eyes from Ari she pointed at Dagur, "He knows all about it and he told her to pursue this new affair because he wants your marriage to end so he can have you all to himself. He's secretly gay but he didn't want to tell you in case it screwed up the dynamic of your working partnership regardless of how much he fancies you." As she continued to speak Robyn's voice rose more and more with every word, "I am sick to the back teeth of this fucking bullshit and I've had enough. If you're going to charge me, then charge me! If you're going to arrest me, then arrest me!"

Gobsmacked, Ari struggled to formulate a response. For a moment he was sure his mouth hung open wordlessly before he only managed to say, "I think we shall...deliberate. Session terminated at...1300 hours."

Struggling with his own surprise, Langford indicated that he and Robyn could leave. He wished that he had a camera with him to capture the expression on the two SIU operatives faces. As he stood up he observed that Robyn followed suit but more slowly than he would have expected. Her movements seemed careful, deliberate as if not wanting to move her head too quickly. He allowed her to walk ahead of him, following her out of the room into the corridor, watching her as she moved. They moved from the management suites corridor into the one outside of the canteen. Without warning her legs gave way from under her and she grabbed hold of the wall before she fell too far. Rushing over to her, Langford could hear the sound of some of his men running to assist as he steadied her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, frightened to let Robyn go lest she should collapse again.

Despite the thudding in her head, Robyn nodded weakly. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't have anything to eat this morning and I had a bad night last night."

"Bollocks!" Langford countered, not believing her.

"Honestly. I'll be ok. I just want to go home."

Staring hard at Robyn, Langford admitted to himself that there was nothing he could do. Slowly releasing her he moved away when he was satisfied that she could remain on her feet and walked back to her house with her, determined that he wasn't going to ignore what had happened.


	9. Chapter 9

As they approached Robyn's house, Langford could see a shape move from the front window and open the door. Both he and Robyn stopped walking instantly at the sight of one of Olaf's men standing in the doorway, his face painted with a silent confidence that made him look disgustingly smug. With a speed that masked her earlier weakness, Robyn ran the rest of the way to the house, ignoring her head screaming at her as she made the rapid movement. Barging past the Red Tide officer she quickly caught sight of Olaf stood in the corner of the room by the kitchen holding Robbie up against the wall by his throat and her uncle and grandparents being subdued by three more Red Tide members beyond them in the kitchen. She heard the front door slam behind her as Langford tried to enter the house.

"Put him down!" Robyn yelled at Olaf, making steps to confront the Red Tide team leader and defend her daddy.

Before Robyn could get too close to Olaf the officer that had locked the door to halt Langford's assistance grabbed her. She struggled against him as he tried to restrain her, every move she made he countered her, stopping her from helping her daddy. In a change of tactics, Robyn used those of the Red Tide member against him and dropped like a stone to the floor. With the grip he had on her the Red Tide member landed on top of her, unable to maintain his footing and falling with her. This action distracted Olaf for one fatal moment as his grasp on Robbie loosened and he found himself hurtling across the room, rebounding off the wall by the stairs and landing face first on the floor. His head spun as he tried to pick himself up.

Shaking himself from his impact with the wall, Olaf forced himself onto his feet and his eyes found those of Robyn who was stood glaring at him. He drew his lips back into a snarl and charged at her, striking her with all of the force he had done on their first meeting when he had discovered her deception but instead of flying to the floor as she had done then she remained standing, the same obstinate expression goading him on her face. Empowered by her flagrant defiance against him he made to raise his hand to her again, ignoring the movement of her uncle and grandfather towards him as they broke free from those holding them.

Robyn's next words caused everyone to freeze as though time had stopped in that second.

"Touch me again and it won't just be Boris' arm they go fishing for in the lake."

Olaf's hand remained poised in mid air as he tried to absorb the words spoken in a tone that resembled that of his ultimate target. A threat that almost dared him to go through with his intention though the end result was almost promised. Beyond Robyn he could see her family, stood as though they were statues incapable of movement. They wore the same expression on their faces that he could feel his contorted into. As Robyn's eyes continued to burn into him he became completely focussed on them, everything seemed to fall away from around him as all he could see were her eyes. Held captive within those deep blue depths he couldn't hear the sound of men shouting outside as Langford kicked the front door in and it crashed into the wall. He was completely unaware of several of Langford's men piling into the house and subduing his men, dragging them from the floor. His senses returned to him just as he felt Langford's hands dig into his shoulders and pull him away from Robyn.

"We don't _slam_ civilians into walls here Olaf!" Langford growled punctuating the word slam by swinging Olaf and shoving him face first into the wall behind them, one of his hands roughly grasping what little hair atop Olaf's head it could purchase.

Langford smiled inwardly as he felt some of Olaf's teeth drop onto the top of his boot and the smear of blood that exploded from Olaf's mouth at the point of impact with the wall. His smile faded when he glanced over at Robyn and saw a trail of blood running from her lip and an angry bruise forming on her cheek. Though Olaf's face was still pushed firmly into the wall he knew the Red Tide leader had every understanding of what he'd seen. Yanking Olaf's face from the wall and stretching his head back, Langford got up close to his face.

"I told you if you so much as brush her with your little finger I'll have you. You've just earned yourself a bog washing!"

Before Olaf could ask what a bog washing was he found himself being dragged from the wall, his feet unable to gain purchase on the floor as he was propelled up the stairs. One of Langford's men called after him, asking him if he needed assistance but he was quickly reassured that everything was under control.

Reaching the landing, Langford marched onwards towards the bathroom. His hand still firmly holding onto Olaf's hair as he dragged the man along with him. Once in the bathroom, Langford thrust Olaf forward and released him which caused Olaf to once more find his head impacting with the wall while Langford shook his hand to get the feeling of cramp out of it. As Olaf tried to turn himself around he felt Langford's hand grab him and hold him hard by the back of his neck. He heard the sound of the toilet seats being lifted and found himself facing downwards into the toilet bowl as Langford kicked his legs out from under him.

His face just inches from the water, Olaf tried to fight against Langford's grip on him as he heard the flusher being pushed down. Langford smiled widely as he heard Olaf's gurgled shouts and watched his fists swinging out in all directions, blindly hitting the wall as they reached up and tried to take his hand from the flusher. Every so often he would push Olaf's head deeper into the toilet, water cascading everywhere. He'd clean up the mess when he was finished, for the pleasure he was getting it was well worth the price of mopping up after himself.

Satisfied that he had gotten his point across to Olaf, Langford let the Red Tide leader's neck go and stopped flushing. Loudly clapping and rubbing his hands together he turned on his heel and stepped out onto the landing. He could hear Olaf standing up and trying to compose himself before he left the bathroom. They exchanged a look with one another before Olaf moved himself towards the stairs. Before walking down them he muttered something under his breath, in a loud enough volume for Langford to get a gist of what had been said but not loud enough for him to hear it properly.

"What was that?" Langford asked, moving from his place near the wall, eyebrow raised as he approached Olaf.

Olaf turned to face Langford as he repeated what he'd said, "I said Boris deserved everything he got!"

Langford smiled briefly, luring Olaf into a false sense of security before he struck. Bursting into a run he used his Rugby experience and tackled Olaf. Both men flew down the stairs, crashing down onto the floor at the bottom of them, Langford taking the brunt of the impact as he landed beneath Olaf. Langford's men tried to help him as he and Olaf tussled, Langford trying to get the Red Tide leader off of him but they found themselves subdued by Red Tide reinforcements that had reacted to a signal from their comrades, their vehicles screeching into town and men piling out of them.

Chaos broke out as Langford's men clashed with Olaf's, men fighting men as they raged for supremacy. The residents of Lazytown looked on as their town became a battleground. They could see men running about, isolated pockets of groups fighting one another with their weapons and fists. A great clamour rose up as Stingy threw himself into the furore when two of the men fighting hit and dented his car. Ziggy ran into the mess, trying to pull him back as Trixie jumped in after them. Bessie held back Mayor Meanswell, fearful that he'd get hurt if he tried to intervene again. It was bad enough that the younger inhabitants of the town were getting themselves involved but she couldn't see the Mayor suffer injury.

Only when one of the groups of men fighting became entangled in her clean laundry hanging up to dry did she see red. Grabbing up her handbag she exited the house and started swinging it, defending her laundry as she struck out at those ruining it.

Alerted to the fighting going on outside as both Sportacus' tried to break up the fights happening all around them, Ari and Dagur raced out of the Network's base and fought their way to their vehicle. Reaching inside the car and opening a panel on the dashboard, Ari looked at Dagur before slamming his hand on a button that sent a high pitched screech tearing through the air all around them and forcing everyone to stop fighting as they tried to guard their ears against the sound. Ari kept his hand on the button for as long as he could stand before releasing it, finally releasing it when Dagur nodded.

As everyone started dropping their hands from their ears Ari took note of everyone looking at him, his hand poised ready over the button in a threat that said if they resumed their previous behaviour he would have no choice but to push it again. When no one gave him cause to subject them to the sound again he moved his hand from the button and shut the car door.

"Fall into a line!" Dagur commanded loudly.

Doing as they were ordered every Network and Red Tide officer within the town lined up in a long line, all of them standing to attention and facing forward. Langford and Olaf stalked from the house and stood just in front of the line of men, both moved stiffly as they tried to compensate for their injuries.

"Just what is happening here?!" Ari yelled moving up and down the line of men, "Is this any way to conduct yourselves? Especially when you involve civilians?! What is the meaning of this? One of you will tell me and you'll tell me now, I outrank every one of you and you will speak to me properly!"

Langford stood forward half a step, "Unannounced combat exercise, Sir! Keeping the Red Tide arseholes on their toes!"

Several of Langford's men struggled to keep straight faces as they heard what he said.

Dagur's eyes narrowed as he looked at Olaf, "Why are you all wet?"

"I bogwashed him, Sir." Langford replied for Olaf.

"Bogwashed?"

"Yes sir! A tactic that could be used against Lily if we ever find the bitch."

This response caused more of Langford's men to struggle to maintain their composure. Ari and Dagur didn't miss their smirks but let it slide. Dagur moved closer to Langford as he wanted to talk to the stand in Division leader personally.

"You are treading on very thin ice as it is, Langford. Don't fall through it! Get yourself assessed at the nearest medical facility and have your injuries treated." Turning to Olaf he then continued, "And you were under orders to stay out of this town. Your men are to return to their base immediately while you are coming with us!"

Olaf watched as all of his men filed away, climbing back into their vehicles and making their exit. He'd found a way into the town undetected but he'd underestimated the young woman he'd found a nemesis in. It was that woman that emerged from her house, a cold compress pressed to the side of her face as he was being led away by the SIU men towards their vehicle.

"Olaf!" He heard her call.

"What?" He glowered in response.

Robyn smiled against the cold compress, "I just have one last word for you before you go."

"What?" Her response was muffled and he frowned taking a step towards her. "What was that?" Again her response was muffled and he angrily began to cross the distance between them to get close enough to hear her. He failed to notice the airship hovering above his head.

This time she spoke clearly.

"Coconut!"

A triumphant roar went up from Langford's men and Robyn's friends as a coconut fell from Sportacus' airship and hit Olaf squarely on the head, knocking him out cold. Despite his obvious injuries and pained expression, Langford ran as fast as he could over to her, high fiving her as everyone continued to laugh and cheer.

Their victory celebration was short lived when Robyn felt another sudden jolt of intense pain run through her head and she sunk to the ground.


	10. Chapter 10

Langford caught Robyn before she hit the ground, his sudden movement jolting her back into a state of consciousness. He held onto her as she regained her footing but even when she appeared balanced he refused to let her go. Her family came to stand by her side, her friends close behind them and he could see her deflecting them in the same way she had him.

This time he wasn't going to let it stand.

"What are you doing?" Robyn questioned as Langford suddenly started to pull her towards his car.

Langford ignored Robyn's attempts to try and pull away from him as he carried on walking with her, "Taking you to the hospital and getting you looked at."

"I'm fine. I told you I haven't had anything to eat today and I had a bad night!" Her protests fell on deaf ears.

"And I told you bollocks. This is the second time today you've flaked out on me. Something's going on and I think we should find out what."

"You can't make me go!" Robyn shouted, finally managing to wrench herself from Langford's grasp and stood in a defiant posture.

Intensely aware that if he pushed the matter and took Robyn anyway he could be seen to be abducting her in the eyes of the SIU, Langford didn't know quite what to do next. He couldn't stand by and do nothing but at the same time he couldn't make his position any more untenable. She wouldn't listen to him, that much was clear but relief filled him when someone she would listen to approached her.

Robbie placed himself in front of Robyn, breaking her line of sight with Langford. Well aware that everyone was watching them he placed a hand gently on her shoulder and bent down to whisper in her ear before moving his hand from her shoulder, cupping her arm and leading her back to the house. He smiled at Yuliya who was still in the living room, trying to mop up Olaf's blood from the wall. She seemed to take a silent cue from him and walked into the kitchen, putting the cloth she was using in the sink and washing her hands before planting a kiss on Robyn's head and leaving the house.

Taking one of Robyn's hands in both of his, he tentatively said, "You know you said this morning when I found you on the floor you were looking for something you'd dropped and you thought it might have rolled under the wardrobe? I hate to say it kiddo but Sportacus and Nine had the wardrobe out and they couldn't find anything." He took note of Robyn's face falling visibly at being rumbled and he squeezed her hand, "What's going on, kiddo? What's wrong? It's not that you dropped something or didn't have anything to eat or enough sleep. Something's wrong and I need you to tell me what it is."

"I..." Robyn bit her lip as she stopped herself trying to tell him she was ok.

It was time to be honest.

When Robbie and Robyn had disappeared into their house, Langford rallied his men to try and tidy up the mess they'd made around the town. Looking among them he could see there weren't many that weren't sporting an injury of one description or another and by the looks of the civilians they hadn't fared much better in the skirmish. Ziggy was nursing a black eye and split lip while Stingy was over by his car wailing at the big dent left in the side of it. Both of the women, Trixie and Bessie, were otherwise unharmed though from how Bessie held her arm he imagined she'd strained it in swinging her handbag at the men entangled in her laundry. Both Sportacus' sported bruises on their arms and Langford imagined that beneath their clothes there were many more.

Looking over at the Town Hall, he noticed that Mayor Meanswell was walking towards him. Despite much of the town having been damaged in one way or another in the fighting the Mayor seemed strangely calm as he walked along humming. He was almost floored when the Mayor greeted him with a warm smile.

Unsure about whether the Mayor had actually noticed the disruption around him, Langford hinted, "I'm sorry about the mess Mr Mayor. As you can see the lads are on to getting it fixed."

"There's no hurry, Mr Langford. After all, the town doesn't look all that different to how it did when Stephanie first came here. It's brought back some memories. Oh yes, I remember the day like it was yesterday. She had her bags and she came to stay with me for the summer. At first she wasn't sure she liked it here but she turned things around with Sportacus' help. I'm sure your men will do a good job and put things back how they were. Speaking of your men, I called Doctor Cole while all the fighting was going on and he's told me that he and Doctor Malone are on their way to come and check everyone over."

"Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'll make sure they look at Bessie, Ziggy, Stingy and Trixie before they worry about the Sportacus' and the lads. They're a tough lot."

"I think I'll get them to look at you as well." Mayor Meanswell said looking at Langford and noticing that he was standing slightly hunched over and holding his arm across his chest.

Langford waved his hand dismissively, "I'll be alright. A hot bath and a couple of pain pills combined with a good night's sleep and you'll never know I was hurt at all. If anything I owe you an apology. We've all acted outside of our professional standards and allowed tensions to boil over. This should never have happened."

"But these things do, Mr Langford. They can't always be helped. Besides which, Olaf was here when he was ordered not to be and he hurt Robyn again. He started this and you did what your jobs tell you to do. I would just like to know how he got into town."

"Oh I'll find out and when I do I'll make sure it never happens again." Langford promised, trying to work out himself how Olaf had done it and he wondered if it had something to do with Robbie.

Patiently waiting for Robyn to continue, Robbie could see how hard it was for her speak. He could see tears welling in her eyes and the words staying unspoken on the tip of her tongue. She looked as though for all the world she wanted to confide in him but the fear of upsetting him was holding her back. Standing on a knife's edge between her opening up to him completely and shutting him down he took one of his hands from hers and brushed her hair back from her face, hooking the strands between his fingers and tucking them behind her ears. When she flinched and inhaled sharply as his fingers touched the back of her right ear he frowned. Moving his hand he brought it to her cheek and gently pushed her head to the side, lifting her hair away from the area he gasped at the sight of a dark bruise colouring the skin behind her ear. As she moved her head back and looked at him he could see a tear rolling down her cheek.

Now more than ever he needed to know what was going on. He urged her, "Tell me what happened."

She broke her silence.

"When Lily threw Boris into me I fell backwards and hit my head on the ground."

Robbie's eyes and mouth opened wide as he took in what Robyn had said, "Oh kiddo! Why didn't you say anything?"

"Everyone was so worried about Boris. He needed help more than I did and I didn't want them to stop them helping him to help me."

Struggling to hold in his emotions, Robbie pulled Robyn into a hug and held her tightly.


	11. Chapter 11

Encased within his arms she felt secure, the pain throbbing throughout her head seemed to ease as she thought only of him. Only of his concern for her. Concern she could feel emanating from him as within his mind he tried to hide the fear he felt that she wouldn't get help and guilt that he hadn't noticed her pain earlier. He knew that she could see what he was thinking, hear his thoughts if only whispers against her own. As she held him tighter as she tried to comfort him he tried to conceal the depth of what he felt behind the shield he'd erected a long time ago to protect her against the full flow of what she could ultimately glean from him.

The things he'd never told her.

There were things he needed to keep from her though it hurt him to do so. He knew there would come a time when he could talk to her about them but until then he promised himself to guard her against what could only hurt her. She had suffered enough pain and right now he had to focus on convincing her to get help. Already she had taken a big step in admitting that she was hurt but she was trying to protect him in just the same way he protected her. She was holding back from telling him what she was feeling; keeping to herself the pain he could tell she was in. To know she'd been hurting for so long and keeping it to herself, suffering in silence made him feel sick. What seemed to compound it was that it had gone on for this long and she hadn't told him until now and he still didn't know the extent of what she had been suffering. Parting from her he looked into her eyes, darkened by emotion.

He had to know what she'd been feeling.

"Langford said you'd nearly collapsed twice while you've been with him and this morning I found you on the floor. What else has been happening?"

Robyn looked down, unable to focus for too long on anything, unable to watch his emotions play across his face as she spoke. "I've been feeling dizzy and I keep getting sharp pains in my head. Sometimes it feels as though everything is moving around me and like my legs just want to cave in. My head hurts all the time and it never seems to go away. I just hoped it would get better on its own and go away."

"I don't think it will, kiddo. You need to tell Doctor Cole what you've told me and he can help you. He can help make it better."

"But I'm scared. I'm scared what he'll say."

Robbie smiled sympathetically and leaned in to kiss Robyn on the forehead, "Don't be, kiddo. Everything will be ok."

Without her abilities she would have believed he was convinced of that fact.

It was a sight for both Doctors Cole and Malone to behold as they came within sight of the town, pulling their car round into the road that ran around the outside of town, working their way around it and deeper into the town as they surveyed all that lay before them. They could see the necessity of their visit, the urgency of the Mayor's voice over the phone as he tried to make himself heard over the racket occurring outside. Every part of the main portion of town had in one way or another been damaged. In the sports field the gates had been pulled off, phone booths beyond that had been dislodged and benches torn from their footings. Many of the walls bore more cracks than they had previously done, some collapsing in portions from the additional damage. Several men milled about trying to repair some of the damage, others trying to pick up some of the mess and ferry it to one place it could be more easily dealt with. Coming to a stop outside of the Town Hall they quickly exited the car and pulled their medical bags out of the boot.

"What are we dealing with?" Doctor Cole asked Langford as he limped over to them.

Langford looked around him, "Just the results of a good old fashioned punch up. By the looks of it some of us fared better than others but before you look at anyone in uniform concentrate on the civilians first."

Doctor Malone shook his head, "We can worry about them in a moment, by outward appearances you're in a lot of pain and the way you're hunching over suggests that you've either cracked or broken some ribs. What happened?"

"I would say I fell down the stairs but bearing in mind the stairs weren't exactly involved you could say I fell from upstairs to downstairs."

Langford's casualness about the matter forced Doctor Cole to give him a black look, "What the hell possessed you to do that?"

"Oh I don't know. I figured it might be a good day to try out flying." Langford's statement dripped with sarcasm, earning him an even blacker look from Doctor Cole and he smiled bashfully. "I'm ok for the moment but you really need to look at the others, including Robyn."

"Robyn? Where is she?"

Sportacus jogged over from where he had been standing with his parents, "Robbie took her home. Everyone's agreed that you need to see to her first."

Doctor Malone's brow furrowed, "What's wrong with her?"

"She's been flaking out, it's happened twice since I've been with her today and she's acting strangely even by her standards. When those two in the Grey uniforms were interrogating h-"

"Interrogating!?" Doctor Cole flared, immediately turning around and storming over to the two SIU operatives. "I specifically told you that in no way, shape or form are you to go anywhere near her until she has been declared medically fit to undergo your witch trials! You forced me to release her medical files and requested that I give you clearance to question her yet you go ahead anyway when you haven't been given it and interrogate her knowing full well the affect it could have on her health. If I find that your interrogation has had a hand in this I will be having strong words with your superiors."

His frame rigid with anger, Nine walked the short distance from where he had been standing to come to a stop before Ari and Dagur. "You interrogated my granddaughter without authorisation? With full knowledge of her medical history you went ahead regardless?"

"We did what we thought we had to!" Ari protested, "We couldn't ignore the things that have been happening just as much as we couldn't wait for authorisation. If anything when we saw her this morning we thought she was trying to stall us, we thought she was acting."

"Robyn is a lot of things but she is not an actress!" Doctor Cole snapped, "The instant you had any doubt you should have called a halt to the proceedings." Turning and waving over Doctor Malone who came quickly to his side he ordered, "Rory, call the hospital and have them table an emergency CT scan. I think I need to go and talk to Robyn."

With a last glaring glance at the SIU operatives, Doctor Cole made the short walk to Robyn's house.


	12. Chapter 12

"You know why I'm here." Doctor Cole stated as he sat in Robbie's orange chair, angled so he could face Robyn directly.

Unable to meet Doctor Cole's gaze, Robyn nodded. "I do. They've told you about me almost collapsing."

"What happened Robyn? What's brought these episodes on?"

Squeezing Robyn's hand, Robbie became her voice. He couldn't risk her trying to hide what had happened to her. He couldn't sit back and watch her try to give a false answer and lead the Doctor astray with an untrue notion. "Robyn told me she'd hit her head. It happened when Boris was attacked and ever since she's felt dizzy and had pain." Turning his head to look at Robyn, Robbie held her hand tighter. "And I hate to say it kiddo but you've also been uncharacteristically aggressive. I might have been choked a little by Olaf but I didn't miss what you said to him. I've never heard you speak like that to anyone, especially not with _that_ voice."

There was a stinging feeling of betrayal permeating her stomach as she heard the words spoken on her behalf and then to her. It felt as though she had heard one of her secrets being given away, that by telling the doctor what had been happening he placed her in a position she knew she couldn't get out of.

She was trapped.

Robbie felt Robyn's hold on his hand loosen but he had to continue as he looked at Doctor Cole. "I noticed a bruise behind her ear earlier, it looks pretty nasty."

He'd gleaned as much information from Robbie as he needed to but there was one thing he still needed to know and the only person who could tell him was the woman staring vacantly at the floor, "I'm going to ask you a question Robyn and I need you to answer me directly. I need you to be totally honest in your answer no matter how much it might upset Robbie. Have you had any seizures?"

Robbie jolted at the question and opened his mouth to speak but Doctor Cole raised a hand to bid him silence.

It was barely perceptible but its message filled them with relief. The image of her shaking her head gave them hope but both knew there was another difficult road to cross. Another question that could tip the sway of their hope and tilt it into despair. Unsure of what answer she would give, he had to ask it regardless.

"As you can probably guess Robyn I've asked the hospital to clear some room for you to come in and have a scan. You know as well as I do how important it is that we do this scan and confirm what I hypothesise has occurred from your head injury. Will you consent to coming to the hospital with me and allowing me to do this scan?"

Every so often they would glance over at the house, waiting for either Doctor Cole to leave alone or for Robyn to leave with him. Remaining where they had been reprimanded by both the Doctor and Robyn's grandfather they considered their next move. Their orders had been simple but their execution had become more complicated following the interrogation. There was no clear cut way for them to avoid embarrassment but if handled correctly their next course of action could at least spare them from the taunting of their peers. They knew there was no possibility of altering the recording, their superiors would know and they would not escape their suspicion. Temptation was that they could try and save face by citing at that at the time of her interrogation Robyn's state of mental health was questionable but there was no mistaking the sincerity in her words when she had berated them, when she had answered all of their questions and smashed their suppositions. They would have to send the recording to their superiors, leaving in their hands the fate of the one they had interrogated. Neither of them needed to confirm with the other what had been spoken of, neither of them to needed to confirm with the other that if they were found to have aggravated her condition in any way they would face consequences befitting their infringement.

The sound of Olaf moaning as he regained consciousness diverted their attention from the house and they observed Langford placing his boot threateningly on the Red Tide leader's chest. A clear warning signal that if he tried to move or said anything untoward he would be placed back into a similar state from that which he was recovering from. When others in the town became aware of Olaf's return to the waking world and began to approach they moved from where they had stood, each generating a shield of professionalism that masked the inner workings of their minds.

"Let him stand." Ari ordered Langford.

When Langford refused to move his foot Dagur snapped, "Now!"

With a sneer and a grunt, Langford did as he was ordered and took his foot from Olaf's chest. He resisted the urge to kick Olaf as he slowly moved himself from his back onto his knees and stood up. There was a conscious look of cautious expectation as Olaf braved a glance at him before he faced the two SIU officers. It was as if he'd been expecting him to land a kick or a punch upon him, to reignite their battle but he remained still. As much satisfaction as hitting Olaf again would give him he could not allow himself to do so in front of the SIU.

There would be a time when he would have an opportunity to do as he desired.

"As we stated before," Dagur began, speaking to Olaf, "You were in breach of your orders to stay out of this town. How did you and those of your team gain entry into the town without our knowledge?"

A twisted smirk formed on Olaf's face as he raised his arm and pointed at Robyn's house, "I think you'll find your answer in there."

"What do you mean?" Ari challenged.

"Follow me and you'll see what I mean." Olaf responded before walking to Robyn's house, his same self assured confidence spilling into every step that he took as he crossed the short distance to her front door and pushed his way through it.

Robbie immediately stood and moved himself in front of Robyn as Olaf strolled into the house as if he owned it. Despite the fact that his previous attacker was flanked by the SIU officers and a confused looking Langford he felt intensely uncomfortable. For a moment he wondered if he would come under attack again and felt himself flinch as Olaf approached. There was a jeering look upon the man's face that told him his state of unconsciousness had done nothing to alter the sharpness of his memory but had instead filled him with a desire to follow through with what he had made his intention before the interruption from Robyn.

When he saw Olaf bend down and grip the left edge of the coffee table with his fingers he knew his secret was about to be unveiled.

A gloating smiled swelled Olaf's face as he heard a satisfying click when his fingers found the well concealed switch in the inner lip beneath the top of the coffee table. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on Robbie as he started to tilt the coffee table towards him and his smile grew as a portion of the floor rose with it revealing the entrance to a tunnel.


	13. Chapter 13

There were no words that needed to be spoken. No questions that needed to be asked to confirm what their eyes were telling them. There was only silence as puzzle pieces began to fall into place. What had been an otherwise unclear picture was now becoming sharper in clarity and unasked questions were answering themselves. With one look at Robbie's face Langford had all the answers he needed.

"This isn't the only one." A statement straight to the point.

Robbie tore his eyes from the discovered tunnel and looked at Langford before slowly shaking his head. "There are more. They run all over the underground of the town. There are entrances to them scattered all over the place."

"Why do I get the sickening feeling that you're going to tell me that you're not the only one that knows about these tunnels?"

"Because I'm not."

There was a tremor of rising anger in Langford's voice, "Who else knows about them?"

"Lily." It was a name spoken barely above a whisper but they all heard it.

They all understood what it meant.

Langford turned away briefly, inhaling and exhaling deeply. When he turned back to face Robbie he wasn't convinced he could hold in his temper much longer, "So you mean to tell me that for months we've been patrolling above ground when what we needed to be doing was monitoring what was going on _under_ it? That every time that bitch has popped up as if from nowhere and disappeared just as quickly it was because she was using the tunnels?"

Robbie nodded.

Throwing his hands up in the air and pushing past Olaf to stand next to Robbie, Langford sighed, "Oh well, I guess that's ok then." But within a split second his casual, resigned posture flared back into one of rage and with a hurtling speed he grabbed a fistful of Robbie's waistcoat and yanked the villain forward until he was centimetres away from his face.

Ari and Dagur sprang forward the moment Langford grabbed Robbie, standing either side of him with the clear intention of breaking his grip on the villain. Doctor Cole moved from where it had felt his feet had been planted and his first concern was for Robyn who seemed almost oblivious to what was going on around her. Since Olaf had revealed the tunnel her eyes hadn't left it, she had stared it unblinkingly. Arrested by her stillness, Olaf's glee at his self made victory fell away and he stared at her blankly.

Unaware of what was occurring on the other side of Robbie's head, Langford ignored the proximity of the SIU operatives and forced his point across. "You lanky, big chinned bastard. I'm not sure whether you're a criminal mastermind or if you simply have as much sense as a flaccid Rice Krispie but I'm going to tell you what you're going to do. You are going to draw up a blueprint of the town and you are going to mark every single tunnel with every single entrance, exit and window box they might have not to mention anything else that you have got lying around that you have neglected to tell us since we've been here. When you've done that we're going to seal all the tunnels and I'm going to fight the temptation to use your head to bang the nails in. Do I make myself clear?"

"Absolutely." Robbie croaked.

To his umbrage, Langford knew he had reached the point where he had to release Robbie and did so roughly. As Robbie tipped backwards and forwards in his body's attempts to right his equilibrium Langford caught sight of Robyn's vacant features, the Doctor's concern as he tried to raise a response from her. Grabbing Robbie by the shoulders he swivelled him round so he could see what was going on and the villain froze. He took a few steps towards her, reaching out to her with his hand, slowly bringing it to rest on her shoulder. Her eyes flickered briefly before she turned her head slightly in his direction.

Her voice was low, her tone guarded. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you hide this from me? From all of us?"

"Robyn...I..." He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't know how he could justify his silence.

"You put us all at risk. You gave her a back door into our home and it wasn't just her that used the tunnels. Morgan and Cain did too. They used them and you gave them the opportunity to attack us at any given second. It's how Lily got to Boris. She used the tunnels to attack him and escape. There's one in the lake isn't there?"

When Robbie nodded Langford resisted the urge to reach over and strangle him, his self control aided by the way the man's shoulders drooped at the coldness he was facing from Robyn. Such as it was he knew the SIU operatives would want to speak with him and clarify that there wasn't anything else the villain had been hiding.

Turning her head away from Robbie, Robyn shrugged his hand from her shoulder and inhaled shakily. "You told me you were different now. That everything you'd done in your past was over and you were a different man. But deep down you're not. Deep down you're rotten to the core."

He moved away from her as if she had struck him. Her words cut into him deeply, stinging as they echoed through his mind.

Standing again in silence, Robyn's eyes returned to the gaping tunnel entrance. They flickered slightly before a trickle of blood seeped from her ear and as if in slow motion she crumpled towards the floor. Both Langford and Doctor Cole moved forwards towards her but neither could halt her fall. Ari quickly moved to summon the other Doctor while Doctor Cole knelt down with all the speed his legs and age would allow and he tried to rouse Robyn. Her eyes fluttered open but closed again quickly as she winced and let out a cry of pain. Shaking off his despair, Robbie threw himself down to kneel beside Robyn and brushed her hair back while Doctor Cole grabbed his handkerchief and pressed it to her ear.

"We need to get her to the hospital," Doctor Cole told Doctor Malone as he came bounding into the house.

Without any prompting, Doctor Malone quickly pulled out his phone and dialled the number for the ambulance. Glancing through the window he could see Sportacus running over followed closely by his father. Within seconds they were in the house and by Robyn's side, trying to work out what was happening.

Ignoring everyone that was around him and focussing on his patient, Doctor Cole bent down and removing his handkerchief could see that no further blood had seeped from Robyn's ear. Seeing the pain dancing across the young woman's face he whispered to her, "It's ok. It'll be ok, help is coming."


	14. Chapter 14

He hadn't expected any visitors, much less the one that was sat casually on a chair that had been placed beside his bed and was studying his medical folder. Leaning against the doorway leading from the toilet he waited to see if he had been noticed but so engrossed was his visitor in what they were reading that his presence failed to register. Tailoring his actions to the situation he quietly walked over to his visitor, his footsteps barely making a sound on the tile floor. Still there was no sign that his visitor had become aware of his presence or his approach and he advanced stealthily. Coming to a stop behind his visitor he swallowed his slight surprise that they still hadn't shown any sign of awareness of his proximity to them, something unusual considering the nature of the work they did and the years of training they had undertaken.

Smiling slightly he lent down to close to his visitor's ear and clapped his hand on their shoulder, "Anything good in there?" He whispered loudly.

"For pity's sake, Boris!" Langford yelled, nearly throwing the file in his hands into the air in shock. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long. You really didn't know I was behind you?"

Gathering himself, Langford shook his head. "No I bloody didn't. And in answer to your question, the only thing I understand in all the gobbledegook that's in here is that you've lost an arm and it appears to be your right one."

Lifting and lowering his eyebrows, his slight smile downturned, Boris walked around Langford and sat himself on his bed. Pushing himself back awkwardly with his one remaining arm he could see the flash of concern run across his friend's face. That look of pity quickly smothered so as not to avoid embarrassment. He'd seen it a lot since he'd been able to move about the hospital and in the visits from the nurses who came to help him complete tasks he struggled to do with only the one hand. It was a bitter pill for him to swallow and one that wouldn't ever go down without coming back up again.

In an attempt to draw his friend out of the awkward silence they had fallen into Boris queried, "Is it me or when I was almost dying out there did you quote Monty Python?"

"Well," Langford shrugged, recalling the exact moment, "A person can say strange things when their colleague, not to mention their friend is dying."

Boris raised an eyebrow, "It's only a flesh wound?"

"What else could I have said?" Langford feebly defended himself before leaning forward slightly in his chair and pointing at Boris, "At least it's not as bad as what you said to me when I had that accident and my guts were trying to vacate the premises. What was it you said? 'At least I can see what you had for breakfast.'"

"I remember." Boris smiled before looking at his friend, "That was a rough day."

"It was but before we go skipping hand in hand down memory lane there's something you should know."

Tilting his head slightly Boris narrowed his eyes, "What is it?"

"Robyn's been brought in."

"When? Why?"

"Not long ago, within the last hour. I'm not sure what's wrong. She collapsed at home and they whizzed her in here with the blues and twos. I jumped in the back of the van with her and they took her off before I could ask where they were going or what was happening."

Jumping from the bed, Boris walked quickly to the door. "We have to find her. We have to find out what's going on."

"It's no use Boris. Doctor Cole isn't going to let you anywhere near her medical files, especially after the SIU were sniffing around them." Langford answered, jumping up too and standing so he was facing Boris.

"SIU?" Boris really didn't like what he imagined he was going to hear. "Why didn't I hear anything about this?"

"That might be because you've not been accepting any visitors let alone phone calls. No one can really truly appreciate what you've been through but you're cutting us all off and the lads are hurting. What makes it worse is that Olaf has been in and out of the town and stirring up trouble. It was him that set the SIU on Robyn."

Turning around fully so his back was to the door, Boris walked back over to his bed and sat down. "I think you need to explain to me exactly what has been going on."

Langford sat himself down and got himself comfortable. This was going to be a long afternoon.

It seemed like they had been waiting forever, waiting to hear, waiting for an answer. In that waiting room it felt as though time had frozen and they were trapped watching the rest of the world go by outside of it. It was almost as though they had been forgotten, made invisible to those moving around outside of the waiting room. In the myriad faces drifting past they tried to find one they recognised, tried to spy the one of the person they were waiting for. Between them there had been little speech, minimal contact with one another to allay their worries. They had sat close to one another but in their proximity they had drawn no comfort. A wall had been built between them, a wall of silence, a wall that breached the gap between right and wrong. It locked them in a state of remorseful reflection, both blaming themselves, one blaming the other.

They remained in that state until the one whose face they had sought in the sea of others appeared in the doorway.

Closing the door behind him as he entered, Doctor Cole sat down in one of the nearby chairs and looked at the two men opposite him. He could almost feel the tension between them, their individual expectation to hear what he had to say.

"Robyn suffered a chronic subdural haematoma." Doctor Cole began, noting the confused look on Robbie and Sportacus' faces. "As a result of the head injury she sustained when Lily attacked Boris a blood vessel ruptured in her brain causing a blood clot. Over time it's gradually put more and more pressure on her brain which caused the intense pain and the increase in severity to her symptoms. We've had to perform a similar procedure to the one she had when she first became my patient to remove the clot and repair the damaged blood vessel."

Sportacus nodded as he slowly absorbed the Doctor's words, "Is she going to be ok?"

"She's stable at the moment and we're bringing her round slowly in recovery. Until she wakes up we'll be unable to say whether there have been any complications from the surgery but I'm confident that she will remain stable and we'll be able to move her onto the ward soon."

A frown furrowed Robbie's brow, "You didn't answer his question. What are you not telling us?"

Doctor Cole leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath, "We're going to need to run some tests and scans but I'm afraid that the initial scan she had when we brought her in revealed another area of brain damage. There's no way of judging what impact that might have until she wakes up and we can assess her."

Both men covered their hands with their faces as they took in the news, trying to make themselves hope for the best but preparing themselves for the worst.


	15. Chapter 15

There was nothing he could say to reassure them. With so much unknown there was so much that had to go unsaid. Only time could give them the answers to the questions they were looking for, only time could reveal what fate had decided. His only regret was that she hadn't sought help sooner. He understood her reason for not seeking it at the time but it disturbed him that she had made no attempt to reach out to anyone, choosing to suffer in silence as she set herself on a path that could have meant her death. There was no doubt that she knew the direction her actions would take yet he wondered if he should choose to believe it. Denial was a much more tangible option but to deny his thoughts on the matter would be to blind himself to what could happen in the future. He wondered if they had thought the same but it was a subject that seemed too inappropriate to raise. There was only one person he could discuss it with and he hoped she would be able to give him an answer to the question posed through her actions. Until she fully regained consciousness he would remain unsure of what capabilities she would have.

He could see in their body language that they wanted to know more from him, for him to tell them what to expect no matter how bad but there was nothing else he could tell them. To do so would be to fill them with fear of what might be, all of his years of expertise gave him insight but he could not share it with them. He couldn't reveal his deepest concerns until there was no other option, until it was the only thing that remained. To look back at what he knew he couldn't doubt that she had been lucky despite the after affects she had faced in the past but there was no guarantee how long her luck would hold out. With everything she had been through, every other problem she had suffered from that brain injury those few years ago her chances of making a full recovery were growing slimmer and slimmer the longer it took for her to wake up. He had asked the nurses attending to Robyn to inform him when she started to show signs of coming round. He had done all he could, the rest was up to her. It reassured him that when she had been removed from the ventilator maintaining her breathing during surgery that she was breathing for herself. He had seen no indicator that that would change and while her condition remained stable he'd sought out her family to inform them of his findings.

It was with them he remained until the nurse came to find him.

As any relative would do, he felt a lump in his throat form when the nurse walked into the waiting room and he realised that for a long time the professional boundary had long been blurred between him and his patient. It was a fact he had tried to distance himself from but he had come to view Robyn as something more than just his patient, in much the same way as he viewed those he had become so close to from the town he had come to know so well.

She was his friend, a young woman he had often found himself looking at through the eyes of a man who had never had children but had his life choice been different he would have wanted a child like her.

Ignoring the pain in his leg from his sudden movement he pushed himself up from the chair and walked over to the nurse. There was an emotion on her face he couldn't identify, one that seemed to be confusion mingled with disbelief. By the way she seemed to look straight through him to the men behind him he could tell they had noticed her presence as well. He could hear movement as they both stood up. When the nurse returned her attention back to him he asked her what was wrong.

"Robyn's awake," She said gently noting the tense anticipation on the faces of the men behind the Doctor, "I thought I'd come and let you know personally, those beepers can be so abrasive when they go off, especially in here."

Doctor Cole nodded, "They can indeed. Thanks for letting me know." As the nurse turned and left the room, Doctor Cole looked at Robbie and Sportacus. "I'm going to go and check on Robyn and get started on some of the assessments. Once they've been done I'll hopefully be able to give you more of an idea of Robyn's condition. Sit tight here and I'll be back as soon as I can."

Without waiting for confirmation, Doctor Cole left the room. As he walked down the corridor towards the lift that would lead him to the Neurosurgery ward he noticed the nurse he had spoken to hovering uncomfortably. By the way she moved to approach him when he neared her he could tell she had been waiting for him. He stopped walking as she came to a stop next to him and encouraged her to speak.

"I didn't want to say anything in there and upset her family but something happened when you left."

Doctor Cole frowned slightly, "What happened?"

"The man, the one that Robyn was engaged to, he was here. He wanted to see you and I told him to wait in your office. I didn't know he wasn't aware of what happened to her and I asked him why he wasn't in the waiting room with the others. He told me he didn't know what I meant and I'm sorry, Doctor, but I had to tell him."

"Where is he now?"

"He's still in your office. He was quite upset and he wanted to see her but I told him that she was still in recovery and the only person she could see was you. I am really sorry I messed up."

"No, it's ok." Doctor Cole sympathised, "He was bound to find out one way or another and in a way I'm happy it wasn't me that had to tell him. Go back to my office and tell him to either wait there or join Sportacus and Robbie in the waiting room. It would be ideal if I could speak to them all at once and it might be better for him not to be alone at the moment."

With a nod and a smile the nurse walked with him to the lifts and as he pressed the button to summon one, he heard the door to the stairway open and happening a glance over his shoulder he caught sight of the man he had on his mind to look for when he had finished his assessments on Robyn. He stood aside to allow the nurse to board the lift and shook his head to let her know he wouldn't be joining her. She nodded back and she disappeared behind the closing doors. Turning around he was greeted by one of Langford's lacklustre smiles.

"How's Robyn?" Langford asked of him.

Considering his words, Doctor Cole wondered just how much the Network officer would probe him. "She's stable and the nurse came to tell me she's woken up from the anaesthetic. I'm just on my way to see her now."

"Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but stable doesn't necessarily always mean that someone's in a good condition. What's the story, Doctor?"

"I can't say until I've run some tests but all I can tell you is she suffered a head injury when Boris was attacked. That would explain your concerns over her odd behaviour and fainting spells."

"Something tells me that this is more than a simple case of a bump on the head and a concussion, especially what I gather of Robyn's past history."

"I can't tell you any more than I have told her family, not until I've run some tests on Robyn and know more myself. I had to perform surgery to remove a blood clot on her brain. We had to do a scan before surgery to locate it and unfortunately I found there is another area of brain damage. I'm on my way to assess to what extent it is."

Unwilling to hold the Doctor up any longer, Langford walked ahead of him and pressed the button to summon the lift.

Before she opened her eyes she knew there was someone else in the room with her. Someone she knew. There was an intensity of emotion within him that she could well understand but its true nature was uncertain. One thing she could tell was that it was directed at her. Turning her head towards him she opened her eyes slowly, flinching as she became used to the light. He was sitting there, his green eyes fixed on her. Despite the emotions she could feel raging within him his face was blank, his eyes barely revealing the storm roaring within.

Only his voice laid bare that which those that did not share her gift could see, "Why did you save me? Why did you save my life?"

She was unsure of her voice but she answered nonetheless, "I did for you what I would have done for anyone else."

"I didn't ask you to!" He snapped, shocking her.

"Oh I'm sorry Boris!" Robyn's voice rose as her shock from his response incited her anger, "I didn't realise that that was the day you wanted to become a statistic. I honestly thought that maybe Lily had killed quite enough people but obviously not. Besides which if you want to blame someone for saving your life blame Langford, blame the Doctors and Nurses that worked hard and evidently wasted their time."

"They wouldn't have had to if you had just let her kill me!" He was shouting now, all of his pent up anger erupting at her.

"What frightens you about the fact you survived? What makes you so determined that you would have been better off dead?"

"This!" Boris jumped up and indicated with his left hand the site his right hand had been.

Robyn sneered, her lips twisted as she studied him. "How unbelievably small minded you are. You lose an arm and you think you're better off six feet under. It's an arm Boris, an arm. People have lost far worse than that and they still carry on with their lives. There are people in the world that have been born without any limbs at all who are more worse off than you and yet you lose an arm and it's the end of the world. You still have your health, you still have your life and you should be grateful!"

"Grateful that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Grateful that because of you my career is ruined? This...this is your fault!" Boris would have continued but he was interrupted by the sound of someone running into the room and the sensation of two hands grabbing him and pulling him away. As he was thrust round he could see Langford and beyond him the Doctor approaching rapidly.

"Have you completely lost your senses?" Doctor Cole raged, "She has just had major surgery and you're in here yelling at her! We could hear you down the corridor!"

"You can be a really casty nunt when you put your mind to it!" Langford threw in, outraged at his friend's, his superior's actions. "She is in here because of what happened to you! She is in here because she hit her head and because she was so concerned about you and getting you help she never said anything. I didn't want to tell you this but she hit her head because Lily threw you into her!"

Boris' mouth hung open, he hadn't realised at all.


	16. Chapter 16

Left alone once more in the waiting room there was little either of them could do. When once their silence had been cast through idle blame inflamed by their desperation for reassurance from any source that their loved one would be alright, it was now maintained by reflections of a different kind. Together they had shared a long and mixed past. Their friendship forged through times of feelings of hate and envy from on and feelings of good will and disappointment from the other. When one of them had gone too far and been exceeded in his machinations by the one he had thought of as his match their relationship had altered completely. Though tenuous at first it had been strengthened beyond measure by the arrival of the only good thing to come out of what could have been the destruction of them both. It was this person now that Robbie harboured greater fears about when he considered what might be future.

"She'll never forgive me, will she?" He asked, his question more a thought spoken out loud than one he would have expected an answer from.

Sportacus sat up, taking his arms from where he had rested them on his legs with his hands clasped and his head bowed. Lifting his head he turned it to look at Robbie, "She forgave me."

Robbie rolled his eyes, "But she would Sportatwerp. You haven't done what I did. When she found out that I'd been a villain it was bad enough but now she thinks I never changed. I built that tunnel under our house, I admit I did but it wasn't for Lily to invite her way in, it was for Robyn to escape if anyone attacked the house. I didn't tell the Network about the tunnels because it never occurred to me until Olaf came bursting in through the floor that anyone else, let alone Lily would use them."

"Then you have to tell her that. You have to tell her everything. She needs to know about everything that you used to do. You can fix this but the only way you can do that is to be completely honest with her."

"I know. I just hope she gives me that chance." Robbie sighed, despondent.

Turning in his seat slightly, Sportacus laid a hand on Robbie's shoulder and nodded. "I know."

Quickly recovering himself, Boris closed his mouth a little and his brow fell into a frown. He made to take a step towards Robyn but Langford's grip on his arm halted him. When he saw Robyn's hard stare at him dissolve into tears he felt as though he had been kicked in the stomach. A quick glance at Doctor Cole confirmed to him that he had been the cause of those tears coursing down her cheeks and his welcome in her room had long been outstayed. He wanted to say sorry, he opened his mouth to speak but out of the corner of his eye he saw Doctor Cole shake his head. He could feel Langford's grip on his arm tighten and he allowed his subordinate to lead him away, back to his room and back into his solitude.

Sighing deeply, Doctor Cole sat down on the chair beside Robyn's bed and held her hand as he allowed her time to cry. He debated with himself whether it was the right time to discuss with her what he needed to but no matter what he did it didn't alter the fact that it would be devastating news for her.

"Robyn," He began, finding it hard to slip from his position of friend into that of his profession. "I'm sorry. When we completed the scan on your brain we found more brain damage."

Fresh tears fell from her eyes as she took in what Doctor Cole said to her and she nodded glumly. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to return to the state in which she had been. To drift on the eddies and currents of oblivion in the state so akin to death where dreams did not exist and there was no thought or feeling. In the waking world there was only pain, pain like that which drummed within her skull and sickened her stomach. Through her clouded eyes she could see the Doctor's face, the sympathy beaming from his eyes and the concern etched on his face.

In his voice she could hear the concern he wore upon his features, "Why didn't you ask for help, Robyn? Why didn't you tell anyone that you'd hit your head? I know when it happened you wanted to get help for Boris but that doesn't explain why you didn't say anything when you knew he would be ok."

There wasn't an answer she could bring herself to speak. She closed her eyes, hoping that in keeping out the harsh lights she could somehow dull the pain. It did little to ease it and beside her she could still feel the Doctor's presence. His contact with her hand was broken as he stood up and she heard his footsteps move him from the room shortly before she heard words soft as a whisper. There was silence before she heard the footsteps again, coming closer and closer before stopping beside her. Once more a hand touched hers and it seemed smoother than the last. It was a hand she remembered the feel of well, one that had held hers through many trials and times of happiness. One that she had never thought she would feel the touch of again.

Kit smiled softly as Robyn's eyes flickered open and he saw them focus on him, "Hi Princess."

"What are you doing here?" She asked quietly.

"I needed to see you. I didn't even know you were here until one of the nurses slipped up and told me. What happened?"

A flash of memory tore through her as she recalled that day, that moment when her mother had appeared. Everything seemed to run backwards from that point, memories flying through her mind in reverse to a point that drove a blade straight through her heart. "You left me."

Kit flinched as if he'd been stung, "I know but I'm here now and I won't leave you again."

For endless hours she had dreamed of hearing him say those words, revelling in the warmth they made her feel but now she heard them leave his lips it left her cold. Cast in the cold light of reality she could see her dreams shatter into dust and in their billowing wake was a void that couldn't be filled by him anymore. She felt herself shaking her head as she found the strength to say what she felt. "We can't go back."

"We can. We have before. I still love you, Robyn. We can work through this." He held her hand tighter as he pleaded with her.

Robyn shook her head again as renewed tears flowed from her eyes. "We can't. There's no way back. It's hard but we have to understand that the choices we make don't just affect us but other people too. You made your choice and you have to live with that just like I have to live with the fact that someone died because I made the choice to help Morgan. I helped Morgan escape and I thought that he'd change, that he'd disappear and change in the way he wanted but I was wrong. He killed the priest and because of that, because of what I'd done, I lost you. If I hadn't been so stupid I never would have been by the lake that day and Boris wouldn't have gotten hurt. He said it was my fault and he was right, it is my fault."

"No, Robs, don't talk like that. You can't talk like that. You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"But it is my fault. No matter what anyone says I made those choices and because of that you walked away. There is no going back, we can't ever go back and we can't ever change what happened because of the choices I made. The priest will never get his life back, his parents will never see their son again and Boris will always be left without an arm. I'll always be to blame for what I've done and I can't live with that anymore. I can't live with the guilt of all the deaths I've caused anymore. I didn't say anything when I hit my head that day because I didn't want help."

Kit shook his head; he wanted to clasp his hand over her mouth to stop her speaking. To stop her saying the words that were shredding him, he couldn't hear them, he couldn't hear her say them. He wanted to silence her but her words continued and he realised she wasn't just talking to him anymore; it was as though she were speaking with herself.

"When I was stood by the lake after the accident I imagined walking into it, walking into it until the water covered me and I couldn't see the light anymore. I could see my reflection in the water and I wondered how long it would take for me to run out of air. Would I have drowned before Sportacus managed to save me or would he have died too? What if I'd survived? I'd always have to live with the guilt of him dying trying to save me. It was better this way, no one else would have died and they couldn't save me from what they couldn't see."

"Please, Robyn, please don't say things like that. You can't mean it."

But he knew she did.

She looked again at him, her eyes cold and filled with tears unshed. "We can never get back together. I can't let myself feel the feelings I felt for you again. Not because of what I did but because you can't change the feelings you had that made you leave me. They'll always be there and eventually they'll make you leave me again. I don't want to go through that again, I can't. I have to live with what I did and so do you."

The weight of her words crushed him as he felt her hand slip from his. As he stood from the chair and walked from the room it felt as though he'd cut a piece of him out with a blunt knife and the tears that burned his cheeks were his blood coursing out of him. Blinded by his sadness he didn't see the Doctor Cole standing in the doorway or feel the hands of the nurse that led him to the Doctor's office on his shoulders.


	17. Chapter 17

For hours they had been waiting for news but none had come. Isolated in ignorance there was no way of telling what was happening, for the most part no one knew what had happened to lead to the two doctors running into the house, the ambulance that screaming through the town and stopping outside before the paramedics rushed in. They'd seen one of them move swiftly from the house, throwing the back doors of the ambulance open as Sportacus carried Robyn inside of it. They'd watched their hero being shooed out by the other paramedic and the Doctor who climbed on board. They'd heard Langford instruct Doctor Malone to take Robbie and Sportacus to the hospital in his car before he ordered the paramedics to allow him access. Without time to argue they'd allowed him to enter the ambulance and the driver quickly jumped out, closing the ambulance doors firmly before it again screamed through the town. In its wake a silence fell that was quickly broken by a commotion, loud voices speaking in unison, fighting to be heard. They'd seen Sportacus move from where he had stood, staring at the empty space left by the ambulance and run back into the house as he tried to make sense of what was happening. Immediately the voices hushed and three men emerged from the house, two in uniforms of grey and one in black. Pulled roughly towards the SIU officers' car, Olaf was quickly bundled inside before one of them turned back to Robbie, a clear warning that they were not finished with him was issued before they departed. There was little explanation to anyone as Sportacus and Robbie climbed into Doctor Malone's car with him, only a promise that information would be relayed as soon as they had any.

That was several hours ago.

Now they were sat in the Mayor's kitchen, all of them trying to reason within their minds why nothing had been heard from those at the hospital. Trapped in limbo they knew not whether there was a cause for relief, celebration or sorrow. All that was open to them was the old axiom 'no news is good news' but within it there was little reassurance. They drew strength from their proximity to one another, each of them knowing that if the worst came they could stand together and be strong.

It was all they had.

Yuliya held her husband's hand, returning the comfort he gave her as they waited for news to come. She could tell that beneath his tightly controlled emotions he was worried, frightened for their granddaughter's health. When he was alone he would allow those emotions to show, emotions that even she never saw erupt from him. Many nights had passed where she had woken to find him gone from their bed, without following him she knew where he had gone and she had allowed herself to give way to the tears she hid from him in much the same way he hid his from her. He would return often near to dawn and as he climbed back into bed with her she would hold him, feeling the tenseness of his muscles as he felt her sudden touch. She wondered if he knew that she had been crying, she wondered if he knew that she knew his secret. She'd never asked him and he'd never told her.

The only sound that anyone could hear save for the grinding, ticking of the clock on the wall was that of Ziggy dragging his tongue along the surface of his latest lollipop. Every time he reached the top of it there would be a slurp followed by a swallow before the wet slap of his tongue on the bottom of the lollipop carried on the endless circle. Trixie didn't know how many times she'd counted him run his tongue over the lollipop but the noises her long time friend was making were slowly grating on her. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it there was no other sound to distract her from the endless licking, slurping and swallowing.

Finally reaching the end of her patience Trixie slammed her fist on the table, making everyone jump as they were stirred from their internal occupations, "Ziggy, please, stop doing that!"

"Doing what?" Ziggy asked, his tongue poised, ready to make another sweep of his lollipop.

"Licking your lollipop. The noises you're making are driving me crazy!"

Looking glumly at his lollipop, Ziggy set it down on the table and hung his head down. "I'm sorry. It just helps me keep my mind off thinking about Robyn."

Bessie nodded and reached over from where she was sitting opposite Ziggy and took his hand, "We know, dear, we're all worried about her and we're all trying our best to distract ourselves. I'm sure we'll hear something soon and everything will be ok."

They all nodded, each digging deep and hoping that their wait for information would be over soon.

Langford was still sitting in the chair he'd left him in when he'd gone to use the toilet. He sighed audibly with annoyance that his subordinate was still present and walked around him to sit heavily on his bed.

"Why are you still here?" He questioned, not trying to hide the frustration he felt.

Langford shrugged, "I don't know really. I guess I figured I'd hang around to make sure you didn't have any more bright ideas. What the hell possessed you to go and do that Boris?"

"Go and do what?"

"Shout at Robyn!" Langford returned, showing his own annoyance, "Especially when she's just had surgery. That was absolutely bang out of order!"

"I wouldn't say I'm the only one!" Boris argued, "You called me a-"

Jumping up from his chair, Langford interrupted Boris, "I know exactly what I called you and you can't say it wasn't deserved. That poor kid is fucked up enough without you turning on her. It's not enough that the bloody SIU were tearing strips off her earlier today, no, you just decided that you had to throw your two pence in as well. Well I just hope you're proud of yourself, you made her cry. Was it worth it? Did it make you feel better?"

Sliding himself off of the bed with a huff, Boris stormed over to the window and stared through the glass to the world beyond. His anger dissolving, Langford slumped back into the chair. Leaning forward he rubbed his hands over his head and sighed, shaking his head.

"You know I had to make the call." He said quietly, "I can't say your dad's English has improved but as soon as he recognised my voice he knew something had happened. I had to wait for him to get your mother, when she wasn't crying I heard her translating for your father. Do you know how horrible it felt not knowing what to tell them? That I only assumed you were alive because we hadn't heard anything to the contrary."

Boris turned from the window and leaned against the wall, "I'm sorry."

"It's not me that you need to be saying sorry to. It's them. They were ready to drop everything to come out here and they're worried sick. I'm not sure whether to tell them that it wasn't just your arm that got messed up or your head as well." Rubbing his hands over his head again, Langford sighed and stood up. He walked towards the door but turned before leaving and pointed at Boris, "If I were you I'd also think about apologising to Robyn. She didn't deserve that."

As Langford disappeared into the corridor, Boris leaned more heavily on the wall before sliding himself down it and sitting silently on the floor.


	18. Chapter 18

Pausing in the corridor outside Boris' room, Langford heaved a heavy sigh. His first thought was to head back to town, to go back to base and try and forget the impossibly long day he'd endured. His second thought was to go back into the room and apologise for being so hard on his superior for the way he had acted, something that would have seemed justifiable given the circumstances had it been another time and not carried out in such poor taste. His third thought was one he chose to act on. Orientating himself with his surroundings he headed for the direction of the stairs, despite the aching throbbing of the entirety of his body he refused to take the lift for a second time. The first had been out of necessity for speaking with the Doctor but now it was only him and his intention there was no justification for allowing himself an easy ride. Reaching the doorway to the stairs, he pushed it open and without looking stepped out into the stairwell at his usual fast pace and collided with Doctor Malone who was coming in the opposite direction, sending a great plume of papers billowing into the air.

In a flurry of 'I'm sorry it was my faults' and 'I'm so sorry I should have been looking where I was goings' both men were trying to grab at the papers scattering themselves all over the narrow space before the spread out too far and some were lost on the lower floors. With all but one of the papers successfully retrieved and handed back to the Doctor, Langford made to bend down to pick up the last when a shot of pain jolted through his chest and he grunted loudly.

"Haven't you gotten yourself checked out yet?" Doctor Malone scolded, hearing Langford's grunt.

Not sure whether to try to straighten himself up or simply stay as he was, Langford shook his head. "Not had the time. It's been a busy day in the life of me."

"Balderdash! From what I've gathered you've spent much of your time here hovering around in Boris' room apart from the brief period you went to see Robyn. Your health should be your first priority. Come with me now and we'll see what we can do with you."

Knowing there was absolutely no room for argument, Langford had no choice but to concede and follow the Doctor as he walked past him and back into the corridor. A short way down they found an empty examination room and Doctor Malone gestured for Langford to step inside. Once he had entered and sat down, Doctor Malone entered the room with him and closed the door behind him.

"Take off your jacket and whatever you have on underneath it please, I need to have a look and see what's going on." Doctor Malone requested.

Standing up from the chair awkwardly, Langford unzipped his jacket. With a struggle he managed to slide it from his shoulders and was greeted with what he might have considered a rather unprofessional gasp from the Doctor. For a moment he wondered if there was any need to remove his vest shirt but he did so with no small amount of trial and error to find a way that didn't make him grimace with pain.

"You are absolutely plastered with bruises!" Doctor Malone stated, stunned. "You need to have an x-ray right now. Put your clothes back on and follow me to radiology."

Suppressing the urge to argue, Langford did as he was told and left the room with the Doctor.

It felt as though they'd never see the Doctor again or hear the news he'd promised to give them until the moment he stepped through the door. They instantly registered the flustered look upon his face and became extremely anxious. As Doctor Cole closed the door and sat down they leant forward in their chairs, eager to hear what he had to say.

Shutting himself off from the personal feelings that threatened to overwhelm him, Doctor Cole slipped into his detached 'Doctor mode'. "I have spent a reasonable amount of time with Robyn and I have to say that I have extremely grave concerns regarding her mental state."

"What do you mean?" Sportacus made no effort to hide his building worry.

"Robyn has outwardly expressed her reasons for not seeking help and she described a scenario which gave an alarming indication that she had intentions towards suicide shortly after the accident. In fact the reason she didn't want help was because she wanted to die from her injury."

The news hit Robbie like a hammer blow, "Oh god!" He exclaimed before falling from the chair to his knees and heaving.

In complete shock from what he had just heard, Sportacus tried his best to comfort Robbie but there was little he could do to ease the torment the older man was going through. He could little believe that Robyn, his precious niece, had harboured those sorts of feelings and he'd not known. That she'd lived with her injury and suffered in silence with the sole intention of dying from it.

Knowing that he had to proceed despite the agony clearly being suffered by the two men before him, Doctor Cole continued. "As a result of Robyn's mental state I have set in place with the board an injunction that will be set in motion should she choose to decline treatment that would otherwise maintain her life and her wellbeing. We cannot assume that at the present time she has full mental capacity and can understand the direct consequences of her actions or the repercussions that would occur afterwards. I know you have waited a long time to see her and now more than ever you wish to but I've had to administer pain relief and a sedative. You would be best coming back tomorrow."

"Can I not just see her for two minutes?" Robbie's voice was weak, "Please?"

As his compassionate side slipped through, Doctor Cole nodded briefly. "Only for two minutes. She needs rest or this will be an even longer and more difficult recovery process for her."

Helped up by Sportacus, Robbie stood. For a moment he thought his legs would give way again as they shook but he remained standing. Adjusting his waistcoat slightly he nodded at the Doctor to say that he was ready. Their walk to the lifts seemed endless as did the journey to Robyn's room, the Doctor leading the way. Eventually they reached it and with immense trepidation he crossed over the threshold.

She seemed so peaceful as she was lying there, her head bandaged from the operation and her face a picture of serenity. It was hard to conceive that under that tranquil surface raged an uncertain sea of torturous darkness. It was hard to imagine that his little girl had fallen so sharply into the depths of depression, to a deep black hole that she didn't want to be saved from. Feeling tears stinging his eyes he sat on the chair beside her bed and clasped her hand, running his thumb over her fingers.

Not knowing if she could hear him or if she was deaf to his words, he spoke to her. "I'm so sorry, kiddo. I'm so so sorry. If I could do anything to make it up to you I would, I swear I would." The tears that had unconsciously escaped his eyes tightened his throat as he poured his feelings out, "I still remember the first night I held you in my arms when you were a baby. I remember how the world just seemed to fall away and you became the only thing that mattered. You have no idea how happy you made me; you completely turned my life around and made me a better person. You gave my life meaning and Lily took me away from you my only concern was for you, it tore me apart to see you growing up without me and missing me. I don't know how I would cope if I had to live in a world without you. I never want you to leave me because if you did I don't know if I'd want to live anymore."

"You say some silly things sometimes, daddy." Robyn whispered, her eyes still closed, "Don't cry. Everything will be ok."

It was later in the evening when Langford made up his mind to go and see Boris one more time before he went home, taking Sportacus and Robbie back with him. Though his anger at his friend, his colleague, hadn't faded he knew he couldn't leave things as he had done. To do so would lead it to play on his mind and stop him from getting the sleep he so desperately needed.

Stepping into Boris' room, Langford found it curiously uninhabited and turned to leave when he heard a sharp inhalation of breath from the other side of the room. Turning to investigate he walked towards the window and found Boris sitting on the floor, silent tears running down his cheeks. Feeling a pang of sympathy and remorse, Langford leant down and grabbed Boris' arm, using it to pull him onto his feet and into a hug. As he patted Boris' back he could feel him give way to a depth of suppressed emotion and held him tighter as Boris' silent tears became wrenching sobs.

Holding back tears of his own, Langford soothed, "Now, now, come on. You're a big boy now. You're a big boy. Don't be cryin'. It'll be ok."


	19. Chapter 19

Hours seemed to have flickered by in endless motion; the darkness of night had given way to a crisp morning, reminiscent of the forthcoming spring but still deep in the iron grip of winter. From her bed she could see only the sky and nothing of the great city beyond the immense grounds of what had seemed to become her second home. She wanted to see more than the grey clouds drifting idly by; she wanted to see more than the hazy blue sky that seemed to go on forever without end. Her arms seemed useless as she pushed herself up into a sitting position and struggled to hold her up as her head swam with her movement. Gritting her teeth she closed her eyes and fought against the impulse that told her to lie back down and give up, the warning sign that told her it was too soon to be getting out of bed. She ignored her body's further attempts to tell her she should rest as she struggled to kick off the blankets and free her legs. Swinging her legs round she opened her eyes and bit her lip as she ineffectually shuffled herself to the edge of the bed. It seemed such a long way for her feet to reach as they dangled above the floor. Holding her breath she took a leap of faith as she pushed herself nearer the edge of the bed to the point that without caution she could topple from it and go crashing to the floor. Her risk paid off as she felt the gratifying feel of cold tile upon her toes and with renewed confidence she pushed herself up into a standing position.

A wave of giddiness almost took her legs from under her but she grabbed hold of the rail of the foot of the bed before she fell too far. Caught in a perilous position she carefully shuffled her feet so they were closer to where the rest of her body was hunched over and steadied herself before trying to stand again. When the fog permeating her brain seemed to clear a little she gingerly took one of her hands from the rail, testing her balance before letting go with the other one. Though she wobbled slightly her balance held and she held her breath as she slowly moved one foot in front of the other. Putting more weight on her forward foot she dragged her other one from behind her. She had taken her first step, she was free from the bed but as she turned to face the window the distance to it seemed almost double what it had been when she'd been lying in bed.

Though dented, her determination to see what lay beyond that pane of glass did not falter and she forced herself to take another step. She thought little of the drip she was attached to via the cannula in the back of her hand or the way she could feel it pulling as she took another staggering, dragging step forward. She barely registered the sensation of it being ripped from her hand as she took a further faltering step, only pausing when she could feel wetness forming. In dazed distraction she lifted her hand so it was level with her eyes and studied it, watching as blood pooled from the tear in her flesh and dripped down to the floor below. With a shrug she dropped her hand back down to her side and continued her lurching journey to the window.

She could almost see what sights stretched out beyond the confined grounds of the hospital, the horizon far beyond her reach when she was hit with another wave of dizziness. Stranded in a no man's land where there was nothing to grab hold of to steady herself she tumbled to the floor, doing nothing to stop it and landing heavily on her front. For what seemed an endless duration of time she lie there, sprawled out on the cold tile floor alone and almost forgotten. In the distance beyond her room she could hear voices, words muffled beyond coherence. Interspersed amongst those distant sounds were those of footfalls almost in time with the steady beating of her heart. She remained silent, still and unmoving, doing nothing to draw attention to herself as she lay where she had fallen. As she listened she could hear the incoherent drone becoming clearer, she could pick out words but they made no sense in the backdrop of broken phrases.

There was something further than the voices, something deeper than the hum of unclear conversation. There was emotion. She could feel it pulsing within her. Someone nearby was in tremendous pain and as she focussed on that sensation she could feel her awareness widen, amongst the pain there were other feelings emitted by a group of people further down the corridor. It was from them she could sense sadness, fear and overriding them all the intense pain that none of the others seemed aware of. It seemed that it was that person that was the source of the distress to the others but she couldn't tell why.

She had to find out.

Flattening her hands out on the floor in front of her she bent her arms and pushed herself up. Shaking under the exertion her muscles resisted but allowed her the movement to support her upper body while she slid her left leg forwards and brought her hands back. Digging the ball of her foot into the floor she centred her weight upon it as she slid her other leg forward, still leaning on her arms for support as she mirrored the position of her left foot. The strength in her arms was close to failing but she succeeded in pushing herself from the floor, focussing her weight on her feet as she moved herself back and stood awkwardly. Caught in the limbo between remaining standing and falling back to the ground she remained completely still. When the room had stopped its customary pitching and wheeling she dared a step forward. Another soon followed and quickly her original desire to study the world outside her window was forgotten and she ambled unsteadily to the door. She showed no concern for the trail of blood that followed her as she moved from where she had fallen or the bloody hand print tattooed upon the door as she rested her hand upon it while opening it with the other.

Stepping backwards seemed almost as perilous as walking forwards and she stumbled slightly as she tried to maintain her footing. Gripping hold of the door she stabilised herself and proceeded forwards into the corridor. Everything was quiet as she traversed the empty expanse of corridor, running her hand along the wall as she used it for support, a trail of blood marking her unstable path. The closer she came to the midpoint of the corridor the more the sensations assaulting her grew. Just beyond her was the source of the pain and the sadness, those lost in the depth of their emotions. It pulled her onwards, captivating her as she sought out those experiencing those feelings.

There they were. Behind the closed door she now looked upon. Without thought she laid her hand on the handle and pushed it down, opening the door. Within the room there was a man lying motionless on the bed, wires attached to various locations on his body and ventilator maintaining his lung function. Around his bed were seated two women and a man, she could feel the sadness emanating from them but underlying that was something that ran much deeper.

"He's in pain." Her words stunned those sitting in chairs around the bed, previously oblivious to her presence they turned sharply and stared at her.

For a moment they studied her while her attention seemed fixed solely on he who they kept a constant vigil over. The person standing in the doorway to what had been the private scene of their grief was without doubt a patient but they couldn't understand why she was here or the statement she had made.

"He's in pain." She said again, her voice in monotone. "He wants you to let him go."

Standing up from his chair, the man approached her. "What do you mean? Who are you?"

"He's talking to me, I can hear him." She replied, "He keeps repeating 'let me go, please me go. It hurts, it hurts so much. I can't bear the pain'."

Immediately one of the two women buried her face in her hands and let out a wail as the other clapped a hand to her mouth and stared wide eyed at the woman in the doorway. For his part the man seemed close to tears of his own and turned to look behind him at the man in the bed. As he stared at the man in the bed it was the words of the woman now behind him in the doorway that brought the threat of his tears into actuality.

"Your dad loves you so much. He wanted to be there for your wedding to Sharon and he's sorry this happened but he doesn't want you to put things on hold. He wants you to go on with the wedding. He needs you to go on with your lives. You want him to come back but he's already gone. Let him go. He's asking you to let him go."

Her hand still clasped to her mouth, one of the women stood and pressed a button on the panel by the bed. She remained, her hand rested on the button until footsteps sounded in the corridor and Doctor Cole emerged.

"Robyn?" He queried, confused that his patient was out of her bed and more concerned that she was out of her room. "What happened to your hand?"

Instead of answering the Doctor's question, Robyn repeated, "He's in pain. He wants them to let him go. He wants to be in peace."

Looking beyond Robyn to those within the room the Doctor felt a chill run through him. All of them had been gravely affected by Robyn's words but within their emotional states there was a silent commitment, a resignation that it was time to make the decision they had tried so hard to avoid. Squeezing himself past Robyn and into the room, the Doctor walked over to the bed and removing his stethoscope from around his neck he confirmed with himself what the monitors were telling him.

"You're sure you're happy for me to proceed?" The Doctor asked, knowing the decision the family of the man in the bed had come to.

They made no move to object or refuse. Nodding solemnly, Doctor Cole replaced his stethoscope around his neck and switched off each of the machines around the man one by one, leaving the heart monitor until last. When the line on the screen went flat he once more took up his stethoscope and still standing within the doorway, Robyn confirmed what it told him.

"He's gone."


	20. Chapter 20

He looked in the mirror. Nothing had changed since he'd last studied his reflection in the glass. At least that's what he told himself. For so long he had tried to avoid the truth the mirror revealed to him, its blunt reality trying to dispel the haze of his denial. In the briefest slip in his concentration he'd allowed himself to look upon it and in an instant the fiction he had created around his reason for being in the hospital was shattered. Now he had allowed himself to see what the mirror beheld he found himself transfixed by it. With his hand he wiped the condensation from it, revealing more of the truth that the steam from the shower had tried to protect him from. For the first time he could see what he had only tried to discover with shaking fingers that withdrew in fear of what they might find. That the nightmares that plagued him at night were more than a simple run of bad dreams brought on by subconscious imaginings of what might have been. There was no running from it anymore now he had seen what he had lost and what remained as a reminder of the attack from the woman that had almost claimed his life.

He stared at it as it stared back at him. The scars that ran across what was not even a stump. Had he not until that day had an arm he would scarce have questioned whether one had ever been there at all. Words from the doctor that had spoken to him began to filter through to his consciousness, words he had vaguely listened to but held no interest in, storing them in his memory for when he was ready to hear them. To acknowledge that there was nothing they could do to replace what he had lost and he was lucky to have survived. He visualised his sessions with the occupational therapist, trying to learn how to use his opposite hand as he had done the one he no longer had and adapting to life with only one upper appendage. Even then he'd denied that his arm was gone, in a cruel distortion of the truth he imagined that it was simply broken. That when it healed he would be able to use it again and he would be normal again. Whenever there was something the put his own version of reality into question he would conjure up another reason why his arm wouldn't work, why he couldn't feel it except in moments that his nerve endings in his shoulder would haunt him with the sensation of what was no longer there.

But now there was no denying what stood out in stark reality.

Stepping back from the mirror he could feel burst of fury rip through him and he punched that ghastly image.

Pain replaced his anger as splinters from the cobwebbed cracks in the glass beneath his fist dug into his hand. Blood rushed to the surface and for a moment he stared at the ruby liquid before sense returned to him. With gritted teeth he moved his shaking hand to the tap and turned it on, cold water surging out of it into the sink. It stung as he bathed his hand beneath the running water but with immense self control he fought against the instinct to remove his hand from what it felt like was hurting it.

A sound behind him forced him to look into that which had made him acknowledge once and for all that his arm had gone. In what was left of the mirror he saw her, her blue eyes staring at him, eyes that had been filled with tears of his causing. Her face was neutral, her lips tightly closed. There was no malice in her gait, no anger but a sadness he could feel from across the room. It seemed curious but the sadness seemed not be entirely for her but aimed more at him. Despite the way he had shouted at her and blamed her for being the cause of his injury she felt sad for him. As he watched her blue eyes leave his and a single tear glide down her cheek he found them drawn to her hand. Blood seeped from a cut, dripping into a small pool on the floor. Out of concern and forgetting his own injury he turned away from the mirror quickly, facing his whole body towards her.

But she was gone.

Blinking in case his eyes deceived him and she was actually there he felt a chill run through him when all that greeted him when he reopened his eyes was an empty space. There was no blood on the floor where she had stood. His features creased into a frown when he realised that the stinging sensation plaguing his hand had gone. In cautious curiosity he raised his hand to his face and his breath was almost stolen from him when he looked upon it. He could not believe what his eyes told him. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be real. It could only be as much of an illusion as her presence in the room had been. Seeking that which had told him the truth before he whirled around, a cry escaping him as he looked upon the mirror and found it unbroken.

Someone must have heard his shout as he heard rushed knocking on the door, a muffled voice calling out to him asking what was wrong. In a state of confusion he turned himself to and fro, looking from where he had seen her standing back to the mirror. His addled mind refused to accept logic and he threw himself at the door. His fingers fumbled as he tried to unlock it. Opening it rapidly he startled the nurse standing on the other side; her eyes stared at him wildly for a few seconds until she regained her composure.

"What's happened, Mr Andryukhin? I heard you shout out." The nurse questioned, concern overriding her temporary shock.

Boris calmed his breathing and shook his head, "I don't know. I thought I saw something and it made me jump. I'll be ok."

"Are you sure? You look rather pale. Maybe you should come back to your room and lie down."

"No, honestly. I'll be fine." Boris reassured her, "I need to see Robyn."

The nurse shifted on her feet uncomfortably, "I'm afraid that's not going to be possible."

"Why not?"

"Doctor Cole's orders. She needs to stay calm and he's concerned that your presence near her will only serve to aggravate her. He wants you to keep away."

"I really must see her." He pushed.

"Then I suggest you speak with Doctor Cole. I'll page him for you and have him come down to see you. In the meantime I think you need to return to your room. Do you need any help to get dressed?"

Realising that he was still only sporting a towel around his waist, Boris felt a wave of embarrassment. Hastily shaking his head he stepped back into the room and closed the door. Leaning back against it he could hear the nurse's muffled footsteps as she walked down the corridor towards the nurses' station. Over the tannoy she could hear the doctor being called for and he peeled himself from the door. Pulling on his clothes he spared one last look in the mirror before leaving the shower room and heading back to his room.

Her hand stung and she could feel the bandage around it growing wet as blood seeped through it. Taking a deep breath she opened her eyes and looked around at her new surroundings, at the room she had been moved to where her movements could be more closely monitored.

"What are you in for?" An unexpected question from an asker concealed behind a curtain.

She turned slightly, shifting her head on the pillow in an attempt to see who had asked the question. "A blood clot on the brain."

"Ouch. You're Robyn aren't you?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I've heard the nurses talking about you. They're always gossiping. Not to mention the fact that you're something of a celebrity around here."

Robyn furrowed her brow, "Really?"

"Hell yeah. You've been in here more times in the last two years than most people spend in hospitals in their lifetime. That and you're the niece of the hunkiest hunk on this earth and you're the infamous mega super bitch Lily's daughter. Everyone knows who you are."

"Remind me to write you an autograph." Robyn giggled, "I'll get one from my uncle too."

"Oh my god! That would be the coolest thing ever. I would honestly melt."

"I'm not sure if they'd be able to treat you for that," Robyn joked, "By the way, what's your name?"

A small laugh drifted through the curtain, "I'm Megan."


	21. Chapter 21

"What can I do for you?" Doctor Cole queried, getting straight to the point as he entered Boris' room.

Matching the Doctor in his directness, Boris replied, "I need to see Robyn."

"After what you did the last time you saw her I can't permit that."

"It won't happen again, I just need to discuss something with her and I promise that I will remain calm."

"I'm sorry, Mr Andryuhkin but I'm not convinced. I don't know if you realise how truly stupid what you did was. Robyn is very ill, regardless of how well she matched you in the volume stakes and to put her under direct stress would almost certainly put her at great risk of triggering another bleed on her brain which is the very last thing she needs. Even if you did remain calm I can't say that she would and after your last display I have to admit you haven't given me much reason to trust you."

Remaining calm despite the Doctor's obstinacy, Boris kept trying. "I accept that what I did was stupid and wrong. The only way I can make amends for that is to talk with her and apologise personally. Let her make the choice whether she wants to see me or not and if she wants to see me I will do nothing to aggravate her and will only be there for as long as she wants me to be. Just please tell her that I need to speak with her."

What could he do? How much further could he argue? There was an urgency in the way the man before him spoke and a sincerity that shone through his apology and his need to make amends, his promise that he would do no further harm to Robyn. As her doctor he held her best interests at heart, his duty of care demanding that he shield her from harm whether inflicted by others or herself. Already she'd become unsettled, unnerving him with the ease with which she had left her bed, her room and walked however unsteadily to someone else's where she seemed as though she were in a trance. Almost as soon as she had regained full awareness her legs had given way and she'd fallen in the doorway. Out of instinct he'd slammed his hand on the emergency buzzer summoning help before rushing to her aid. She'd stayed where she was, lying on the floor seemingly dazed while he checked her over for any obvious injury. Satisfied that only her hand required attention he allowed the staff to help her stand and place her in a wheelchair. Taking his handkerchief from his pocket he'd wrapped it firmly around her hand and tied it in a knot to stem the bleeding.

Leaving staff with instructions to wheel her to the treatment room where he could take a closer look at her hand he'd resolved to find her a blanket to keep her warm and maintain her dignity. On entering her room he'd found the evidence on the floor that this was not her first fall. A trail of blood ran from beside the bed to a point in the middle of the room where it had pooled before another trail ran away from it and out into the corridor. Quickly heading to the treatment room he'd thanked the nurses that had been efficient enough to prepare everything he needed and asked one of them to summon a cleaner to clean Robyn's room while asking another if she could be moved to a room closer to the nurses' station where she could be better supervised. A reply came back straight away that there were no unoccupied rooms but if she was willing there was one she could share with another patient. It wasn't ideal but it was a solution nonetheless.

Taking in what Boris had said to him, Doctor Cole relented. "You may see her, but only if she wishes it as you said. I'm due to start my rounds soon and provided she's awake I'll ask her."

"Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate it."

"Just don't make me come to regret it." Doctor Cole warned before leaving the room.

Leaning himself back in bed, Boris summoned the patience he would need while he waited for Robyn's answer. Lifting his hand to his face he turned it over and over again, still failing to understand what had happened in the shower room.

Robbie gingerly stepped out of his front door as the SIU officers motioned for him to follow them. Out of the two he didn't know which he feared the most but between them and Langford he found himself more inclined to stay out of the Englishman's way. The journey in the car back from Greentown had been almost unbearable, not only because he was leaving his precious Robyn behind but also because he was painfully aware of Langford's ire towards him. As soon as the car had been pulled up outside his house he'd scuttled away, quickly escaping any chance that he would be set upon again for concealing the tunnels that had been used by Lily, the tunnels that had sheltered her while she'd lain in wait for an opportunity to launch her attack. Fortunately he'd only been followed by Sportacus and watched from the window, concealed by one of the curtains as Langford had climbed awkwardly out of the car and headed for his base.

As he walked through the door of the gymnasium that had been converted for the purposes of the Network, Robbie puzzled that he'd never once stepped foot into the building even when it had served its original purpose. Following the SIU officers down the windowed corridor he could feel the eyes of those relaxing in the rooms either side of him upon him, judging him. They'd all heard of what he was responsible for. They all knew. Turning right down the end of the corridor he could hear the buzzing of conversation emanating from the cafeteria, conversation that fell into silence when he stopped parallel to the doorway and resumed in hushed tones as he passed through another doorway into a smaller corridor. A short way down the corridor he found himself ushered in to what he surmised to be Langford and Boris' office. His assumption was confirmed when a sour faced Langford emerged from behind him and pushed his way through so he could sit at his desk. A sharp hand gesture served as an order for him to approach the desk and he found a large sheet of blueprint paper thrust into his hand. So far no one had spoken to him; a stony silence had surrounded him and the other three men in the room. Looking at the roll of blueprint in his hands he unrolled it before biting his bottom lip and saying the words that would undoubtedly break the silence and, from what he could judge of Langford's state of temper, get him killed.

"I think you're going to need a bigger blueprint."

Before either Ari or Dagur could step in, Langford was up on his feet with two huge bunches of Robbie's waistcoat in his fists and pulling him forwards before swinging him around and throwing him on the desk. Papers were thrown everywhere as Robbie's back impacted with the top of desk and his legs dangled helplessly over the edge.

Still firmly holding the dazed and now terrified Robbie so their faces were only millimetres apart, Langford seethed through gritted teeth. "If you were anyone else to Robyn, if that poor kid wasn't in as much of a state as she is at the moment and if I didn't know that whatever I did to you she wouldn't come back and do worse to me I would make you eat this desk!"

Despite his obvious peril Robbie opened his mouth to speak but found himself in the air once again as Langford hurled him up. In the process of setting Robbie back heavily on his feet Langford felt a sudden jolt of pain and grunted loudly, the pain forcing him to release Robbie's waistcoat and hold his side with one hand while supporting himself with his forearm on the desk. Ari quickly grabbed Langford's desk chair from where it had skidded across the room with the force of his standing while Dagur supported him, leaving Robbie wondering what was going on. Still in visible pain but evidently trying to cover it, Langford's breathing was measured and his eyes firmly shut as his hand remained clasped firmly to his side and his posture was hunched forward as he was helped to sit in the chair.

"I'll get a Doctor." Ari said, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialling a number from those he had saved in his phonebook.

Langford groaned in protest but he could do no more than allow the SIU operatives to do what they wanted. As hard as it was for him to accept he was in no fit state to move but he wouldn't ever admit that it was a relief to him to know that the pain he was feeling would ease soon.

That was until Doctor Malone sauntered into the room.

Moving past Robbie and the SIU operatives, Doctor Malone placed his medical bag on Langford's desk and carefully leant his patient back in his chair so he could get a proper look at him. He didn't miss Langford's sharp intake of breath followed quickly by a coarse expletive.

"Thank you," Doctor Malone let the swear word slide, "But I'm sure I told you my name wasn't 'Gareth Hunt' as you Cockneys like to say. In fact most people would normally say, 'hello doctor'."

"Well pardon me all over the place." Langford begrudged, silently enjoying the Doctor's banter.

"Apology accepted. Now, did I or did I not tell you when we got the results of your x-ray and found that you had cracked ribs to take it easy?"

"And did I, or did I not Doctor, tell you that my superior is in hospital and I can manage?"

"You did but we agreed that you would focus on paperwork and leave anything heavy to the others. By the looks of Mr Rotten's waistcoat and the state of this desk you've done a bit more than that. It wouldn't surprise me if some of those ribs you cracked have broken. I can give you some pain relief and get these two gentlemen to help you to somewhere you'll be more comfortable."

Langford's voice oozed sarcasm, "Smashing."

Nodding curtly, Doctor Malone opened his medical bag and pulled out a syringe and vial. Bending down he undid Langford's jacket and helped him pull it off, grateful that he wasn't met with any further bad language and for Langford's affinity for vest tops. Unsheathing the syringe he measured a dose of painkiller from the vial and injected it into Langford's arm with a brief 'sharp scratch' to warn him. Taking the needle out he pulled a cotton bud out of his bag and rubbed the injection site with it before putting the syringe into his sharps bin.

With his patient dealt with satisfactorily for the moment he turned his attention to the SIU operatives watching him intently, "Are you the same two gentlemen that asked me for access to Robyn's psychiatric records from her time at the Safe House?"

Both Ari and Dagur nodded, notwithstanding the fact that they'd find themselves in the firing line from Langford whose attention had been piqued and was staring at them blankly.

"And I'm to take it that you read those records?" Doctor Malone continued, another simultaneous nod answered him, "Then given the information you read and the recommendations, the strong recommendations that you were given not to proceed with questioning her because of the high risk of the onset of a breakdown did you proceed anyway? Why is it as well that when I spoke to your superiors and told them exactly what I thought of your appalling lack of judgement and heavy handed, bullish attitudes they told me that no authorisation had been given for any of you to come anywhere near Robyn until they were given clearance let alone to interrogate her?"

Caste in the direct spotlight of the Doctor's questioning, Ari and Dagur found themselves trapped.


	22. Chapter 22

They'd been talking for what seemed like hours. Chatting idly about anything that made them think of anything besides where they were. Though separated by a curtain that had been drawn between them it did little to affect their flow of conversation. Of all their conversational topics only one thing seemed to remain unspoken of, one story hadn't been told and unwilling to injure what seemed a strong friendship even in its infancy Robyn held back from asking the question that had been asked of her. There had been a time when Megan had come close to confessing what had brought her to the hospital but she had pulled herself back from it, holding onto the memory for just a little longer. It had centred around her hobbies, her love of horses. Her aspirations to be able to ride again when she was better and not allow anything to keep her from the saddle, especially not when it came to her favourite horse.

"But that was what got me here." Megan said sadly, thinking out loud as she thought about the last time she'd ridden Wally.

Seeing an opening and feeling that Megan was ready to talk about what had happened to her, Robyn asked, "What happened?"

"To be honest I don't know. Not entirely. One minute he was fine, we were having a great ride but then something must have spooked him. He started whinnying and rearing. I tried to get him to calm down, I gripped the reins as tightly as I could and held on for dear life but he just wouldn't stop. I couldn't hold on anymore, I just couldn't keep hold of the reins and I fell off of him. I had my riding hat on but it wasn't enough to protect me completely. All I remember is lying on the ground, hearing him whinnying. The next thing I know I'm in here and I can't feel anything from the head down. Kinda sad isn't it?"

"That's terrible!" Robyn exclaimed, wanting to break the curtained barrier between them to offer comfort and sitting up sharply. The sudden movement caused her head to whirl and her hands scrabbled for something they could hold onto to stop her from falling from the bed. Relief struck her when her fingers caught hold of the bed's backrest and gripped it, steadying her.

"Whoa! Be careful!" Megan warned, hearing the sound of Robyn's movements and guessing what was going on. "If you fall out of bed or anything happens to you I can't push the bell, remember?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I didn't think."

"It's ok. From what I gather, sweetheart, you think a lot about the things you should be thinking little of and little about the things you should be thinking a lot about. I can see how it would stop you getting in a lot of messes. You're a really caring person but do me a favour, any hugs you want to give me to cheer me up, wait to give them to me when I'm getting out of here. I want to be able to appreciate them."

Robyn nodded and smiled, "Sure."

Caught out and in the firing line Ari and Dagur knew they were in trouble. Under Langford's glare their resolve started to shrivel and their chances of being able to save their skins were extremely slim.

"You mean to tell me that you came here without the proper authorisation? Which one of you two came up with the decision to go against orders and have a crack at trying to look like you were working on your own initiative?" Langford growled, gripping the edge of the desk with one hand in an attempt to pull himself up from his chair but thinking better of it when a stab of pain halted his breath for a moment.

Dagur was the first to recover himself from the surprise of his and Ari's deception being discovered, "We didn't want to take any chances that she was working for Lily. We couldn't wait! We got all the facts we needed and we had to make a decision!"

"A decision that wasn't yours to make!" Langford snapped, "If you had doubts of any kind you should have taken them straight to headquarters and pushed for authorisation not gone out of your way to try and act alone!"

Seeing that they were fighting a losing battle, Ari tried to defend himself and his colleague. "We were given reason to believe that any delay could cause significant damage to getting the information we needed and dealing with Robyn appropriately."

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you had a million and one reasons not to approach her! Now unless I'm mistaken Headquarters is obtainable twenty four hours a day, three hundred and sixty five days a year, that includes your little operation. There would have been no delay in getting emergency guidance and contacting us to hold her if needs be!" Ignoring an attempt by Doctor Malone to prevent him from doing so, Langford stood up. A brief flash of the pain he was assaulted with flickered momentarily on his face before he stepped forward, closing the distance between him and the SIU operatives. "But it was very convenient for you that Boris wasn't here, wasn't it? You had no reason to approach him, he was out of the way and you felt like you could just stroll right in. When it comes to rank there's no question that you outrank me but neither of you outrank him and he would have had the final word."

In a moment of rare genius, Robbie connected the dots that Langford had started to build into an incoherent picture. "You work for Olaf, don't you? He told you to come here knowing that there was no one that could stop you."

"This just gets better and better." Langford grumbled. Looking over his shoulder he asked the doctor, "You got more of that pain stuff, Doc?"

"Erm...yes." Doctor Malone replied, dreading the reason why he'd been asked.

"Good. Because I might need it." Langford swallowed any involuntary vocal indication that it hurt him as he punched Dagur and then Ari in the face.

Both SIU operatives stumbled back but didn't retaliate. Disbelief dripped down their faces in much the same way as the blood ran from their noses and lips. Robbie yelped as the fired up Langford turned on him and dug his finger into his chin.

"You make do with what you've been given and if there's anything more than tunnels you're hiding I suggest that you show me what it is and where it is right now!" There was an unmistakeable level of threat in Langford's voice that left Robbie quivering.

Robbie took the hint that now meant now when Langford raised both eyebrows and he quickly darted from the room. Pushing himself through the SIU operatives to follow after Robbie, Langford felt a hand grab his arm and looked behind him to see Ari looking fiercely at him.

"You won't get away with this!" Ari snarled.

"I'll deal with you later!" Langford spat. Tearing his arm from Ari's hand and striding from the room.

The two SIU operatives made to follow him but he stopped them with a warning hand and gestured with his head for the Doctor to come towards him. When Doctor Malone had managed to squeeze himself awkwardly between the two SIU operatives and out of the door, Langford slammed it shut and locked it, trapping the SIU men inside. He ignored their protests and their banging on the door demanding to be let out and walked out into the main corridor where he found two of his men holding Robbie and trying to look as though they hadn't been listening to what had been going on in the office, relaying information back to their colleagues pretending to be going about their business in the canteen.

"Tobias, Clarke, make sure our SIU friends stay where they've been put until I'm ready to deal with them. Me and Robbie are going to take a little walk and if he's lucky he won't be joining them when we get back. If Doctor Malone likes he can come with us or he can sit and acquaint himself with you lot. He's also more than welcome to go out and about town, there's no restriction. I would only ask that he stays in town just in case we need him." Langford heartily clapped his hand twice on Robbie's shoulder. "Get someone to find out where the rock is that Olaf's crawled under and send a team to flush him out. I've got a feeling that he isn't far away, check with the Screwballs in Crazytown to see if they've seen him and get them to help you if he's there. Just remember that if you're going into Crazytown don't go in uniform. We all remember what happened last time anyone went over there in their gear."

Their orders given and knowing by the tone of Langford's voice that questioning him in any way was a bad idea, Tobias and Clarke did as they were told leaving Robbie with Langford. It was with a large gulp that he found himself being led down the corridor and outside, wishing that either Sportacus was there to save him.


	23. Chapter 23

"Knock knock." A familiarly accented voice said from the doorway.

Robyn turned over in bed and smiled broadly as she caught sight of Sportacus entering the room. Her smile faded as she caught a hint of surprise from him and remembered that he knew the reason why she had kept her injury a secret. As if picking up on her discomfort, Sportacus smiled gently and cupped her chin with his hand. It was obvious he wasn't expecting to find her in a smiling state but he seemed pleased with the change. She felt the tickle of his moustache as he leant down to press a kiss on her forehead and watched him as he drew back, his smile a little bigger.

"Ho-" He began but found himself silenced by Robyn placing a finger to her lips.

"Ssh. Megan's asleep," She whispered, pointing behind her to the curtain that concealed her friend.

Eyes momentarily wide with alarm Sportacus instinctively tried to peek around the curtain from where he stood before catching sight of the end of the bed housing Megan and mimicked his niece by putting his finger to his lips. Following her lead he whispered back, "Sorry. How are you?"

"Better than I was. Apparently I'm medicated though so it could be that. I think it helps not being in a room on my own and having Megan to talk to. You know she's only your biggest fan?"

A flattered edge leant itself to Sportacus' smile, "Really?" He asked, narrowing his eyes just the smallest amount as he asked.

"Definitely. She'd love it if you signed something for her, that would really make her day. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if it made her millennium." Noticing that Sportacus would every so often peep over his shoulder she added, "Grumpy's here too isn't he? Does he know about...you know?"

Once again Sportacus' smile dwindled and he nodded. The memory of him telling his father why Robyn had remained silent despite her pain was all too raw to him. For one of the first times in his life he'd seen his father closer to tears than at any other point before and it had shattered him emotionally, bringing home in fearsome Technicolor the depth of his feelings and the reaction he'd held off from himself so that he could comfort Robbie. Together they had found the strength to tell his mother and it had almost been too much for him to remain in the room as grief had overwhelmed her and she'd clung to his father. Almost immediately his father had made the decision that he wanted to come and see his granddaughter at the earliest opportunity and as soon as visiting hours they'd set off in the car. It had been a silent journey and what had troubled Sportacus more than the silence was the total absence of movement from his father the whole trip. Only when they had reached the hospital had his father woken from his reverie and made any attempt to speak.

Breaking himself from his own reverie, Sportacus realised that he didn't have to tell Robyn how her grandfather had taken the news and turned his lips inwards briefly before hugging her gently. He cherished the feeling of her in his arms and tried to keep himself from thinking that had the doctor not been in town when she had collapsed the last time he was unlikely to have had this opportunity. Part of him didn't want to let her go, to coddle her as he had done those childhood years after Robbie had been killed and protect her from everything that would threaten her tenuous happiness. Even when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him did he struggle to part with her though she pushed him back slightly, parting them and clearing the path of her vision, revealing her grandfather and Doctor Cole.

The expression on Nine's face wasn't quite what Robyn was expecting when she studied him. All of the hardness seemed to have evaporated from his eyes and though still cold they appeared duller. His face was devoid of the usual sharpness she had become used to, the confident, self proud air transformed into one that seemed almost fearful. To look upon him as he was now was more harrowing to her than coming under the full burning glare of his piercing, judgemental gaze that she had so often prompted from him. Unwilling to open herself to the full force of the emotions she could see brimming within his eyes, she viewed him as a normal person, one that didn't share her gift. Even without the use of her abilities she could tell how hurt he was. He seemed completely devoid of anger but there had to be more to his sadness, something that made the change in his features so intense and made visible the obvious discomfort he felt. Then it struck her.

"You're disappointed in me."

Nine flinched at the statement but shook his head, "I'm not disappointed in you. I'm disappointed that you didn't feel you could come to me. If anything I'm disappointed in myself. Ever since we first met and I learned of everything that has happened to you, I blamed everyone else for what I thought was their part, I blamed them for being at fault. But I realise now the fault was mine. None of those things might have happened to you if I'd come into your life sooner and been the grandfather I should have been. I was stubborn for too long and this is the result."

On the brink of tears Robyn lowered her eyes. The touch of a hand beneath her chin and a gentle pressure lifting it up from where she had dropped it onto her chest encouraged her to raise her eyes. As they instantly locked onto those of her grandfather she saw the briefest shadow of regret filtering through the pain, a silent apology for all he considered to be his wrongdoing. He removed his hand from her chin and seemed to collect himself as he remembered that Doctor Cole was waiting patiently behind him and the reason he'd elected to speak with the Doctor before coming to see his granddaughter. Subconsciously shelving the need to continue his discussion with his granddaughter until they were somewhere more private he made his suggestion.

"I was asking Doctor Cole if he would permit you to leave your room for a little while and come for a walk with myself and your uncle."

There was an edge of suspicion to the quick glance Robyn met the Doctor with, "Did you ask him if I could come with you or did you tell him that I had to come with you?"

"Oh no, he asked me." Doctor Cole smiled, coming to Nine's defence. "Though we did disagree on one minor point. When he says walk, he means walk. Given the state of your balance recently and the falls you've had I would rather you were in a wheelchair."

"I'd like to try and walk if I can. I mean how could I possibly fall when I'm being supported by two heroes?"

"Hmmm," Doctor Cole narrowed his eyes, considering Robyn's point. Opening his eyes a little wider he levelled a pointing finger at her, "Alright but on one condition. If you become tired you use one of the wheelchairs in the foyer. Now get out of here before I change my mind."

Robyn scrunched her face up happily and with a triumphant arm pump allowed her uncle and grandfather to help her out of bed. She wobbled dangerously before they got proper purchase of her, their arms nearest her interlocking behind her back and their hands around her waist while they got her to rest her arms on their opposite ones. He laughed slightly when he noticed that they were supporting her so well her feet were barely touching the floor. Both heroes noticed and coloured slightly before adjusting their hold and lowering the arms Robyn held onto so that her feet could reach the ground and she could walk.

Once they were out of sight he turned back into the room and checked on his other patient.


	24. Chapter 24

A chill winter wind whipped around them as they stood out by the lake. Langford tried to work out just why Robbie had brought him here. The way he'd seemed to drag Robbie out of the base had attracted the attention of several onlookers and before he knew it they'd been joined with some of the townsfolk and those of his men patrolling this area of town. Now they all stood, watching Robbie as he walked to and fro, nervous distraction hunching his shoulders as he seemed to tap at the ground with his foot. Behind him the glimmering water of the lake reflected the clouds and the abstract silhouette of his almost mechanical movements.

Langford didn't miss the whispers of the others, the hushed argument that Ziggy and Stingy were having over who should ask him what was going on and Trixie telling them both to shut up. He smiled to himself as he continued to eavesdrop and bore the benefit of hearing Trixie threatening to bash the two's heads together if they didn't 'quit it'. They seemed to fall silent immediately and he dared a quick look over his shoulder and saw both of the arguers standing with their arms folded and their faces stony. This small diversion had been a boost to his waning patience but he wasn't sure how much longer he could wait, watching Robbie pacing and muttering to himself.

It seemed a small miracle when Robbie finally stopped pacing and found what he was looking for.

"Aha!" Robbie tapped again at the spot he'd just placed his foot and confirming it was the right one, stamped on it.

In response to Robbie's stamping foot a lever shot out of the ground, causing several of the others to jump back at its sudden movement and the loud, ear piercing, squeak that accompanied it. Langford's eyes narrowed with suspicious confusion as Robbie pointed at the lever, silently asking permission to pull it. When he gave a vacant nod, Robbie nodded before pulling on the lever.

At first it didn't seem to want to respond to Robbie's tugging, even when he resorted to wriggling it and kicking it. Had the situation been entirely different Langford would have found watching Robbie fighting with the lever amusing but as it stood he was finding it hard to remain where he was standing and keeping silent. Eventually Robbie seemed to realise he was pulling the lever the wrong way and he laughed nervously, his laughter jiggling his shoulders. It was laughter that died away almost as soon as he locked eyes with Langford and, fearing that it was a murderous look brewing within them, he straightened his waistcoat and stepped around the lever and cleared his throat as he wrenched the lever.

Small pockets of air bubbles formed on the previously still service of the lake, bubbles that grew in size and frequency. Beneath the water a gurgling, gushing resonated as the bubbles transformed into frothing ripples. A dark mass appeared just beneath bubbling surface, growing closer and closer before finally breaching it, sending huge torrents of water cascading over its top. The sound of water being violently dispersed was replaced with the deep groaning of fatigued metal as out of the lake a huge shipping container appeared, a platform squealing as the large system built to push it up out of the water came to a grinding stop.

All the while since the lever had gone down and the water had begun to move, Langford's eyes had been growing progressively wider. By the time the shipping container had fully emerged from the water Langford's eyes were so wide they'd almost drawn the rest of his face back entirely and lifted his forehead until it was almost where his hairline should have started. Even without looking behind him he'd been able to imagine how Ziggy and Stingy were standing now, the way their faces were painted as his was and Trixie looking equally aghast.

"What...is...this?" Langford's voice sounded like a stranger's to himself.

"It's mi-" Stingy roared jumping forward before catching himself and finding Langford's disdain aimed full force at him.

"Idiot," Trixie clucked, rolling her eyes at Stingy's somewhat misguided possessiveness.

Reserving a space for Stingy on his mental 'people to have words with later list', Langford ignored Lazytown's answer to Ebeneezer Scrooge and turned back to Robbie with a withering glance. Robbie seemed to shrivel under the intensity of Langford's look and tried to busy himself with opening one of the doors on the shipping container. It resisted his efforts mightily, the doors having been rusted together beneath the water and prolonged lack of use, not to mention Robbie's general physical weakness.

His arms and hands aching with the desire to grab hold of Robbie and boot him into next month, Langford walked over to him and occupied his hands elsewhere with trying to open the doors. He knew that what he was going to do would undoubtedly cause him more pain but discovering what Robbie was hiding within the container was a necessary evil. It was taking its time but he could feel the pain relief given to him by Doctor Malone starting to kick in and he hoped that by the time he was done he'd feel no worse than he did already. With his higher strength he was able to loosen them but not without eardrum shattering screeches from the resistant metal greeting his every effort. He gritted his teeth against the noise and making purchase on the edge of the one of the doors with his fingers gave an almighty heave. Without warning the door swung open, Langford's last pull at it generating more force than what was needed and as a result he lost his footing and was sent crashing into the wall of the shipping container, pinned behind the door. Those of his men that had followed him from the main part of town and joined him from their patrols raced forward to free him from behind the door. Robbie maintained a safe distance and seemed to be silently pleading with whatever cosmic force that could protect him that one or other of the Sportacus' would return home and spare him from Langford's rage.

It seemed that at the moment Langford was released from behind the door, his face bright red and frame shaking, Robbie's pleading had gone unheard at least in the form of one of the Sportacus' coming to rescue him. In even more pain than he'd started this little adventure in and sporting a nasty looking cut to his face that ran from his right temple to his cheek, Langford seemed more inclined to ignore Robbie for the moment and concentrate on investigating what he'd brought out to the lake to see.

With a distinctive limp and a look that might have struck Robbie dead had he been in any position to expire, Langford stomped on the crunching gravel of the shore to the opening in the container and climbed inside.


	25. Chapter 25

It had proven to be an unsteady and slow walk but they had finally reached the end of the corridor and the doorway leading through to the lifts. Taking careful consideration of Robyn's flagging energy levels but also the look of outright determination on her face to keep going, Sportacus knew that short of purposely supporting his niece in the way they had before by accident, that there was no way she'd come back to bed. He doubted that this soon after finally being allowed not only out of her bed, or her room – but to use her own two legs that she would willingly accept a wheelchair. As it was he and his father had shared more than one glance between them, communicating their understanding that in part she was resisting even their assistance. They'd both had to tighten their grip on her instinctively when they'd felt her trying to pull away, trying to walk on her own despite the obvious dangers – the evidence of which was still clearly visible on her knees and the heels of her hands. This far she'd responded to their gently increased pressure and slowed her pace again each time but now it was becoming more clear that in her attempts to try and walk independently she'd drained what little stamina she had and needed to sit down regardless of her feelings about it.

Passing through the door leading to the smaller corridor housing the lifts and stairs, Sportacus and his father deliberately held Robyn slightly off the ground again and walked her to the small bank of seats lining the wall facing the lifts. Strangely to both of them, Robyn made no sound or movement to protest or resist as they sat down with her and seemed almost grateful of the break. He wondered for a moment if he'd misinterpreted her determination to keep going and do it on her own instead of seeing what her other motives might have been. Had she tried to move ahead of him and her grandfather so she could get to the corridor and sit down quicker? Or had she thought that if she didn't make it this far without resting she'd let him down?

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Robyn looking at him, a gentle smile curving the ends of her lips. She'd picked up on his thoughts - that much was certain to him, but she didn't give any clear indication about which was the correct answer. He turned to face her and returned her smile before he remembered something that might be useful to her, and both him and his father, in his backpack.

"Banana or apple?" He asked, unclipping his backpack from the back of his uniform and reaching inside.

Robyn shrugged, "Whatever one you and Grumpy don't want. I'm not fussed."

"I'll have an apple please, son." Nine offered, thanking his son when an apple was duly handed to him.

Pulling out a second apple and a banana, Sportacus held both up and allowed Robyn to make her choice. Initially she reached for the banana but seemed to think better of it and chose the apple instead. As she took a bite of it and swallowed he could see the positive effect of it and the return of vital energy. Once they'd finished eating, both Sportacus' helped Robyn up from her seat and walked towards the lifts.

"Whoa!" Robyn screeched suddenly, "No way! Not in one of those things, not after last time!"

Nine nodded, understanding. "But there's no other alternative if you would like to go downstairs. You'll be safe; you have both of us with you."

"And if it breaks down again and both of you are in there with me, who gets us out?"

Long gone, it seemed, were the days where every conversation between him and his granddaughter had ended in an argument as Nine took in and accepted what Robyn was saying. She had a valid point though her fear that the lift would break down again seemed unfounded. Thinking on it a moment he came to a decision.

"Why don't either your uncle or I use the stairs while you use the lift? That way at least if anything happens at least one of us is available to get you out."

Robyn seemed unconvinced but didn't try to argue and allowed herself to be supported to walk the rest of the way to the lift and watched as Sportacus pushed the button. It seemed obvious which of the two would go with her as Nine stepped out of the lift when it arrived and headed for the stairs. Sportacus gave her a knowing smile and shook his head, her response was to return his smile and roll her eyes.

Taking a deep breath she reached out and pushed the 'G' button.

Stepping into the echoing container, Langford automatically reached for his weapon. He flicked it sharply, extending it to its full length. There was enough light streaming through the open door to illuminate at least a good half of his surroundings and he studied them carefully. He admitted to himself he'd had no idea what to expect but what he now saw surrounding him dispelled his anger towards Robbie and transformed it into curious amazement.

Directly in front of him was a large, yellow bulldozer, to the right of it and –extremely curiously, a massive cannon. Lining the walls he could see various crates, some of which were sealed and others whose lids had been disturbed in the movement of the container from beneath the water. Limping over to the crate closest to him he probed the crate with his weapon, inside was a mixture of what he could only really identify as strange costumes.

Clicking his baton down into its original length he replaced it in its holder and reached into the box. His hands caught on something and he pulled it out, wanting to study it more closely. It was an orange headdress, covered in feathers that were soft to his touch. Setting it aside he found more of the 'outfit' and shook his head.

This was too weird.

Beneath the outfit he'd pulled out he found another, this one purple and white with purple balls around the ends of the sleeves. It was silky and had a long hat with it and a _tutu_? Gathering up the costume in his arms he limped back towards the entrance to the container.

"Is this your gigolo outfit or something?" He asked, holding the costume in his hands.

Robbie looked at it sheepishly, "It's my birthday fairy costume."

"Birthday fairy." Langford echoed dubiously, "Riiiiiiiiiiiiggggggghhhhhhhtttttt."

Tossing the costume at Robbie and watching as he fumbled awkwardly to catch it, Langford came out from the container. His men instinctively stepped forward and awaited his instructions.

"Get in there and catalogue everything. Meanwhile Robbie and I can continue our tour of what other goodies he might have lying about and perhaps show me where the entrances are to some of the tunnels. The rest of you, get home."

As his men went about their task, one of them taking Robbie's costume from out of his hands and returning it to the shipping container, and the civilians of Lazytown did as they'd been told - with a nervous parting glance in Robbie's direction, Langford led Robbie away.

Out of the earshot of anyone around them, Langford rose a difficult point. "I take it Robyn doesn't know about," He paused pointing at the container, "That."

Robbie's silence told him everything he needed to know.

"From what I saw Robyn took discovering about your tunnels pretty badly. If you have any hope whatsoever of salvaging what little relationship with her you have left you're going to have to level with her."

Langford's words hit home with Robbie, twice he had been guilty of deliberately deceiving Robyn, twice she had reacted badly, the image she'd had as the man she'd spent much of her life believing was her father shattered beyond repair. Now she had even more reason to be angry, to hate him.

And he couldn't blame her if she did.


	26. Chapter 26

Doctor Cole was greeted with a welcome sight as he walked into his office. Sitting on his desk was a truly unhealthy yet naughtily indulgent double cheese and bacon burger meal with a, slightly larger than should have come with the meal, coffee. Sitting behind the undoubted treat of his week was the bringer of such delights – Kit. It had been a couple of days since he'd properly seen the young clown, the amount of hours he'd been working forcing into his bed early at night and out even earlier in the morning. When their paths had crossed, even in the briefest fashion their talk had only been of each other and hopefully plans for when they would next have the day together.

Closing the door behind him he walked over to the desk, his stomach growling loudly and his tongue tingling in anticipation as his nostrils widened and took in as much of the aroma of the food as they could and he realised how hungry he was. There was a carnal urge to tear into the burger and gulp the coffee right where he stood without a care for his companion but he resisted it, instead he exerted his self control and sat down on the chair nearest him. It felt odd sitting on this side of the desk, the side normally reserved for visitors and families and even more especially when it was Kit sitting on his side of the desk, twirling to and fro absently in his chair. Unable to hold out any longer he grabbed up the carton of fries and pulled out a couple before biting into them and savouring their salty goodness.

"You're a terribly bad influence on me." He garbled with his mouth full.

Kit smiled wickedly, "But you like it." He stopped spinning when he remembered something, "It wasn't that long before we broke up that Robyn said something along those lines as well. How is she?"

Doctor Cole quickly swallowed his mouthful, "You know I can't go into all out specifics but she's a little better. The two Sportacus' are here and they've taken her downstairs for a little bit of exercise. You should join them, say hello."

"I'm not being funny Doc but I'm probably the last person Robyn wants to see at the moment."

"I wouldn't say that exactly, although if you were I wouldn't say you're the only member of that club."

"What do you mean?" Kit queried, leaning forward slightly. "Who else would be in it with me? What's happened?"

Wishing he'd not allowed the greasy junk food to loosen his tongue; Doctor Cole cursed himself but knew it was too late to backtrack on what he'd said. "Before you went to see Robyn she'd had another visitor. They had an argument..." He stopped, knowing what proceeding would bring.

This was a path well travelled to him, the intense gaze, the tensing of the body as the large brown eyes that were so often overflowing with humour became cold, the stiffening of the lips so used to smiling, the contracting of the forehead into a frown. The inevitable request to continue.

"Go on."

Doctor Cole shuddered inwardly as he broke contact with Kit's hardened eyes, "Boris-"

No sooner had the word left his lips he heard the sound of two hands being slammed down on his desk followed by his chair hitting the wall as footsteps filled with anger threw back the door and stormed out of the room. Looking down from the corner of the ceiling he'd allowed his eyes to wander to he took in the vacant chair and the wide open door. With his leg still hurting him and his age working against him, matched with the quickness of Kit's anger he knew there was no way he'd be able to catch up to him or even stop him. His first instinct was to reach for the phone and call security but he knew that would only result in a fight between Kit and the security guards that the hospital didn't need.

That Robyn didn't need.

But there was another way.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Sportacus light-heartedly commented as the lift reached the bottom floor and the doors slid open with the announcement in a metallic voice – _ground floor_ and revealed her grandfather standing with his arms folded.

Robyn shrugged with a slight dismissive hint, "I don't know, but I still don't trust this thing."

Sharing a wry look with his father, Sportacus helped Robyn out of the lift and paused as his father assumed their previous posture. Subconsciously he shook his head as he remembered the way that Robyn's attention seemed solely focussed on the numbers above the door, watching them as they illuminated with every floor the lift went down and releasing a single breath of relief with each passing number. He'd felt her grip on him tighten subtly every time she perceived the lift juddering, any interruption to its steady humming that might give an indication it was about to break down. There had been no denying the long sigh of relief she'd given when it had finally stopped on the ground floor, no matter how much she'd tried to play it down when the doors had opened and they'd prepared to alight.

As they haphazardly walked towards the cafeteria, something caught Sportacus' attention and he slowed his pace. That something was moving quickly towards them and he gestured for his father to stop as he ceased all movement. A nurse was running full pelt towards them, her movement generating a lot of interest from onlookers and passersby. Instinctively knowing that he was needed, Sportacus gave a nod to his father and left Robyn in his capable hands before running to meet the nurse who broke off and ran straight for the stairs, holding the door open for him as he raced through it and she followed.

Boris wondered whether he'd temporarily been granted a sixth sense when he pushed himself to sit on the edge of the bed and prepare himself for an uninvited visitor. The only surprise came in the form of Kit's apparent stillness as he walked into the room, something he knew was deceptive, a well hidden trap to lure him into reigniting the flames of anger hastily stamped out. Though the bait was there he wouldn't bite.

He knew better than that.

"Sit down, Kit." His tone was firm, calculated.

This caught Kit off guard slightly but he shook his head, "I'd rather stand."

"Sit down." Firmer still with an edge of menace.

Blazing brown eyes met cool green as Kit neared Boris. Only as he grew closer did the telltale signs of his concealed anger become more apparent. Still he refused to sit in the chair that Boris was pointing at. Still Boris refused to say anything to him until he did.

Locked in a stalemate, neither side seemed willing to relent. Neither one moving from their intended path. They ignored Sportacus' presence in the room, the hero's entry as casual as it was quick. There was only a slight break in the tension when Boris lowered his arm and shook it out before raising it again, his finger pointing.

"Cramp?" Kit asked simply.

Boris nodded slightly, "You could say that."

Whether it was out of concern for Boris' condition or the feeling that his anger was slowly starting to drain away, Kit looked at the chair and moved closer to it. He could see Boris lower his arm as he drew closer and this time it remained by his side. Body language still tense and enough of his temper burning within him and quicker than Sportacus had time to react to, Kit kicked the chair out of the way and launched himself, grabbing Boris' lapels as he pulled him off the bed and slammed him into the chair.

Centimetres from Boris' face, Kit said what he'd come to say. "I don't care exactly what you said to Robyn but I've got a pretty good idea how badly it upset her. I don't care whether me and her aren't involved any more but if I hear about you speaking to her in that way again or upsetting her again in any way for any reason I'll break off your other arm and slap you round the face with it. _Am I clear_?"

Having made his point and not waiting for a response, Kit roughly let go of Boris and left the room. Pushing past Sportacus on his way out. His progress was soon stopped when he looked to his left and saw the woman he'd been trying to protect.


	27. Chapter 27

Robyn was staring at him. Her face contorted with anger, her eyes as though they were made of ice. It was anger that radiated towards him as though she were giving off heat and if he had at that moment not been so lost in surprise he would almost have felt his skin prickle. He could only stand, staring back at her. Eyes unblinking he watched her, waiting for her to move, waiting for her to speak and the inevitable pain her words would bring him as she vented that anger. But she didn't move. She didn't speak. He watched her until he could resist blinking no longer and in the split second it took him to do so – she was gone.

He daren't call out her name as his eyes darted around feverishly to try and see where she had gone even though he knew it was futile. She was there, he knew she was but his mind tried to tell him that he had only seen her as a reflection of his own pent up anger - his conscience providing him with the clear picture that would face him when she learned of his lapse in temper. Caught in the sway of his anger subsiding into confusion and remorse he desperately tried to make sense of what had happened and what he'd done. He'd not only physically assaulted Boris when he was at his most vulnerable but had threatened him too.

He knew what he had done but he was still too angry to hold onto even the slightest idea to try and take it back, to try and apologise to make it right. He was calm enough to know that if he went back into the room he'd been in danger of finding himself inflamed again and perhaps hurting more than Boris if Sportacus intervened. So he stood there. Motionless. Silent. Aware of his surroundings and the conflict of his emotions but ignoring the sound of footsteps behind him and the feel of the strong hand that was placed on his shoulder pulling him away.

It had all happened so quickly.

One second Robyn was standing beside him, watching Sportacus running for the stairs. The next he'd felt her body start to become limp. Tightening his hold on her he'd guided her fall to the floor, stopping her from falling too quickly and using his body to support hers. He'd tried to rouse her as several people had rushed over, their faces painted with concern. He'd heard one of them saying they'd sent someone to summon a nurse, a doctor, anyone that could help. In the short space of time he'd allowed himself to look up from his granddaughter he'd seen the sea of faces part as two nurses pushed through the crowd and knelt down beside him and his granddaughter.

Though they tried to get him to give them some room to work he remained where he was, supporting her head and watching for any sign that she was starting to regain consciousness or, to his great fear, seizure. He felt relief flood him when Robyn's eyes flickered open and she allowed her eyes to focus on him, he frowned with concern when her brow creased and her eyes narrowed.

"You look weird when you're upside down." Robyn smiled up at him before looking around her, "I really know how to draw a crowd don't I?"

Showing no reaction to Robyn's first comment but concentrating on her second, Nine nodded. "You do." Looking at the Nurses still kneeling near him, he addressed them. "Can she get up?"

"As long as we know she hasn't hurt herself." One of the Nurses returned before moving herself so Robyn could see her, "Hey Robyn, how are you feeling?"

"Hey Kat, long time no see. I guess I'm feeling ok, my head hurts a bit and it's not really that comfortable down here."

"We'll get you up in a jiffy. Have you hurt yourself anywhere?"

Robyn thought for a moment and shook her head, "No, I think I'm ok. I just want to get up."

Without waiting for confirmation from the Nurses, Nine quickly scooped Robyn from the floor and held onto her as the other Nurse went to fetch a wheelchair. She returned quickly and he gently lowered Robyn into it, somewhat surprised that she made no protest. Making sure that the footplates of the wheelchair were down and Robyn's feet were on them he allowed Kathleen to start pushing her towards the lifts.

Kit found himself standing with his back against the wall; his arms crossed in a defiant posture as Sportacus leaned against the opposite wall and observed him. In the time that he'd been led down the corridor by the sporty hero and they'd both found a quiet spot to have the talk he knew they were going to have, they'd not said a word to each other. Though his eyes were lowered to the floor he could still see the disappointment in Sportacus' eyes and the twitch of his moustache as he thought. Though Sportacus was silent he could still hear him asking him what he'd thought he was doing and what had made him do it. Playing out their whole discussion in his head, imagining the very near future and playing back his own empty excuses and reasoning before he said them he waited for his prediction to become reality.

There wasn't much for him to say that he was sure Kit hadn't already said to himself. It had been weeks since he'd last seen him and though in different circumstances he would have welcomed a reunion with the man, who still held a place in his heart regardless of what happened between him and his niece, he couldn't say he was happy to meet him thus. He'd made sure Boris was alright before he'd gone in search of Kit – a short search when he'd only been outside of the room. He'd let Kit away, bringing them as to private a corner of the ward as he could find without intruding on any of the treatment rooms or patient rooms so that he could get Kit's side of the story and found him oddly quiet. He'd made no attempt to resist being led away and looked somewhat shell-shocked.

Now they stood in silence, each waiting for the other to break it.

"You're on neurology still aren't you?" Kathleen asked while they waited for the lift to descend.

"Yeah I am. I'm sharing a room for a change."

Kathleen pressed the button for the neurology floor as they boarded the arrived lift and looked down at Robyn, "Oh really? I heard a rumour that a patient up there had been going walkabout and falling over so she needed a little extra supervision. That wouldn't have been you would it?"

"Busted." Robyn admitted, "It was me. I couldn't help myself. But the person I'm sharing a room with is cool. She's really nice."

"Well that's cool. What's her name?"

"Megan."

Kathleen shot a look at Nine, it was full of uncertainty that he didn't miss and brought a frown to his features. He tried to judge where her momentary look of alarm came from but knowing nothing of Robyn's friend he couldn't pinpoint it exactly.

A shrill beeping from Kathleen's pager echoed around the small space in the lift and she pulled it out of her pocket. As shift lead she was responsible for carrying it and realised that she was late back from her break. With a flash of annoyance she grimaced and replaced it back in her pocket.

"I'm being summoned back to the ward." Kathleen explained, hitting the button for her floor which had almost luckily not been passed yet. She thought for a moment and had an idea, "Why don't you come onto the ward with me before we get you back. It's been a little while since some of the girls have seen you, Robyn. Unless your Grandpa has any objections?"

Nine shook his head and knowing Robyn was looking at him, removed his expression of uneasiness caused by Kathleen's earlier discomforting look. "No objections. Perhaps on our travels we might bump into your Uncle."

"Or Kit." Robyn commented almost under her breath.

Kathleen and Nine shared a look again seconds before the lift doors swept open to allow them to disembark the lift. As the neared the door separating them from the ward it swung open and all smiled as Sportacus appeared from behind it and held it open. Kathleen couldn't contain her surprise or happiness at seeing her close friend and abandoned pushing Robyn's wheelchair a moment to give him a big hug.

"It's so good to see you!" She exclaimed as they parted.

Sportacus blushed a little, "It's good to see you too." He smiled a little wider before turning serious. "I promise we'll have a catch up but could you maybe take Robyn into the ward? I just need to have a word with my dad."

"Sure," Kathleen smiled, "I leave off here in a couple of hours. If you're still here come and find me."

As Kathleen started to push her away, Robyn turned around in her chair and held Sportacus' gaze for as long as she could. She already knew what her uncle was going to talk to Nine about but she couldn't tell him, she couldn't risk putting them in danger and just had to pretend for now that she knew nothing. She'd felt the flicker of doubt inside him as he'd watched her being pushed away, the look he had when he wondered if she was reading him. She couldn't understand why, after all this time and him knowing of her ability, that he still felt the need to have 'private' chats even when he was sure she knew what was going on.

Did he think that since her latest brain injury that her abilities weren't the same? It didn't matter.

There was something else attracting her attention and eking its way into her concentration.

She was only half aware of voices on the fringe of her hearing, people moving around her. Her ears didn't hear Kathleen saying that she would be back in a second as she ducked into the small office behind the nurses' station – nor did her eyes see the figure move to look at her from a room adjacent to where she'd been placed. She was focussed only on the sensation that was growing in intensity.

Pulling her towards it.


	28. Chapter 28

Langford had had enough walking. He'd had enough talking. He'd had enough of simply standing and awkwardly sat himself down on the cold, hard ground. Leaning back he laid down and brought his knees up as Robbie stood over him – his face a picture of confusion made almost comical by the dim glow of light cast around his head as he blocked out the weak sun that made it looks as if he had a halo. He heard several men call his name and simply raised a dismissive hand at them. Their shouting stopped but he could hear them moving, their boots tramping towards him at pace between walking and running. Again he raised his hand, waving them off and this time they complied. Lifting his eyes up to look at Robbie he shook his head.

"Get down here!" He told him, "You're giving me eye strain."

Robbie did as he was told though he was unsure exactly to what extent 'down here' meant and how far 'down' Langford wanted him to come. He settled for the moment with kneeling and waited for Langford to snap at him again to tell him that he was wrong but the Network officer said nothing and he allowed himself to relax a little. Though despite his relaxing slightly he didn't believe that Langford was truly done with him and that he was safe. He knew Langford thought he was stupid but he wouldn't prove to him that he was entirely so by allowing himself to be drawn into a false sense of security that left him open to more verbal jibes or physicality from the bald brute.

As it was he was sure his waistcoat and undershirt had been stretched beyond repair.

"Tell me something, Robbie." He heard Langford say, his tone more conversational than confrontational – a far cry from earlier in the day.

"What's that?" Robbie ventured.

"How on earth could you have done all of that and been the laziest man in Lazytown? It's no wonder you tried to be but you didn't exactly go the right way about it, though saying that if I came up with half of the stuff you've shown me today I'd be pretty intent on doing nothing for a long time. You took a lot of steps to get what you wanted when now you've pretty much achieved it by doing nothing which I guess is the point."

Robbie looked away as he considered that for the moment. He was truly now the laziest man in Lazytown and he hadn't had to lift a finger to attain that goal. To his knowledge everyone in town did something, everyone had a hobby or did an activity and he for the most part remained in his chair watching the world go by or lately worrying about Robyn.

Looking back down at Langford, Robbie grimaced at the still bleeding state of Langford's temple. "You'd better get that checked out, hadn't you?"

"Tis only a scratch." Langford chuckled dryly before sobering.

Remembering.

Almost as if he'd picked up on Langford's thoughts, Robbie asked him, "Does Boris know about...you know what."

"The fact that your tunnels lead right out to the lake? The fact that it was that tunnel by the lake that Lily jumped out of to attack him and Robyn? The fact that you only waited until after it happened to tell us about them? Oh yeah, he knows. He'll have a field day when I tell him about your little surprise you've been hiding beneath the lake. I wouldn't think for one minute that he'll be coming back and being your best friend. If I were you I'd be getting myself ready for a major spanking."

Robbie gulped. Hard.

The world around her became vacant. Everything except her and the floor she walked upon dissolved into darkness. Everything that was, apart from the doorway. Her feeble feet carried her towards it. It was ahead of her on the left. Her eyes were fixed upon it and her mind was arrested by it. Even if she had had the consciousness to, there was no turning back as her hand touched upon the door jamb and her fingers wrapped themselves around the handle. It seemed to open on its own the moment she made contact with it and she felt herself being pulled inside.

"What are you going to tell Robyn?" Nine asked Sportacus after his son had told him about what had happened with Kit.

Sportacus shrugged, "I don't know. There's no way I can put it without upsetting her but if I don't tell her it might upset her even more. She knows something is going on though."

"Let's let her get some sleep when we get her back to her room before we think too much about telling her. She's exhausted. We could do with getting back home as well, I'm eager to know what Langford has done with Robbie. I know that he wanted to see him this morning and I'd assume he hasn't calmed down much since yesterday."

"That's a good idea," Sportacus agreed as he reached for the door leading into the ward, "Let's go and get her."

Stepping onto the ward Sportacus and his father found themselves struck by one thing immediately. Robyn's wheelchair was empty. Fighting down rising panic, Sportacus raced to the nurses' station and called for someone to help. Kathleen came out from the office and clapped her hand to her mouth as she noticed the empty wheelchair.

"Where is she?" Kathleen cried.

"I don't know, we came back in here and she was gone. Shouldn't you have been watching her?" Nine responded with annoyance.

Kathleen coloured at Nine's anger towards her and seeing movement behind him as she tried to avert her eyes she noticed Boris coming out from his room. He looked quite pale and as though he were shaken by something but she had more pressing things to be concerned about right now.

"What's going on?" He asked the group stepping forward.

Nine and Sportacus turned to look at him, it was Sportacus that answered his question. "Robyn's gone missing, she was here in the wheelchair and now she's gone."

Kathleen was on the edge of tears, "I only went into the office for a minute."

"It's ok." Boris reassured her before springing into action, his Network training kicking in despite his recent trauma. "She can't have gotten far. One of you stay here, the others help me look."

Nine and Boris left the nurses' station, Sportacus joining them after giving Kathleen a comforting smile and telling her to stay put. The group of three didn't have far to look before they found Robyn. She was stood motionless in the room she had entered, her back to them. They walked in slowly, tentatively. There was a strange atmosphere in the room that made the hairs on the backs of their necks stand on end. The lights were low and flickering, humming loudly as they surged and dimmed. Something wasn't right.

Something felt like they shouldn't be in here.

"Robyn?" Sportacus questioned gently, not wanting to make her jump.

"I feel...cold." Robyn stammered, not in answer to him or anyone. "There's so much...sadness in here. So much sadness."

"It's ok, Robyn. It's ok. We'll get you out of here." Nine tried to break through.

It was as though she didn't hear him. They looked at one another, the three of them feeling the intense atmosphere thicken. Robyn's voice sounded in whispers, words they couldn't make out, words interrupted by the hitch of her breath as she started to cry.

"It hurts..." She whined, huddling her shoulders as she wrapped her arms tightly around her.

Allowing his instincts to guide him and holding out his arm to halt Sportacus' and Nine's progression forward, Boris stepped ahead of them. "What hurts, Robyn? Where are you hurting?"

The closer Boris moved towards Robyn, the more something in his gut told him he shouldn't be in here. His entire body felt as though it was awash with goosebumps, cold shivers shooting down his spine like naked electricity. He was within arm's reach of her, his fingers stretching as far as they could go. His fingertips had almost brushed the cream cotton of her pyjamas when a force thrust him back, throwing him into Sportacus and Nine – hurling them out of the room and against the wall beyond the door.

Sportacus and Boris were back on their feet almost instantly, ignoring the pain from their impact with the wall. They started to run back into the room but as they came within an inch of the doorway the door slammed shut, its sudden movement and their velocity almost causing them to collide with it. Bewildered they looked at one another, their hands on the door, precious seconds passed as their brains tried to catch up with what was happening, their thoughts jamming in the mass confusion.

Until they heard the screams.

In desperate action they slammed their bodies against the door – once, twice, three times. Robyn's blood curdling screams accompanying their efforts, driving them on. It gave way on the fourth attempt, swinging back on his hinges and crashing into the wall behind it. Robyn was lying on her front on the floor, her hand fixed to her chest.

Ignoring any danger Sportacus and Boris ran towards her. Boris helped as best he could as Sportacus scooped Robyn from the floor, the hero almost dropping her as her screams fell into silence, her eyes rolled back in her head and her body started to convulse. With all the speed he possessed he ran out of the room with her and into the corridor.


	29. Chapter 29

He was the only person standing still in a whirlwind of activity. Nurses running all around him. Doctors shouting orders. So many sounds. So many machines. But he was not the only silent one.

She was the centre of that whirlwind.

He'd run as fast as he could. Trying to hold her as she convulsed in his arms. Panic stricken he'd wanted to shout out – shout for anyone that would hear him, shout for anyone that would help him. Help her. They'd run towards him. Taking her from him. Placing her on a trolley and running with her, the rubber wheels squeaking on the tile floor. Stainless steel frame rattling. He'd followed them. He'd followed them as quickly as he could to one of the trauma rooms.

Now he stood.

Watching.

Helpless.

But he was someone people relied on to help them. How could he be helpless? How could he live up to his title, his life's work if he was helpless? Someone was in danger and all he could do was just stand there. It wasn't right.

It just wasn't right.

He almost jumped at the sudden sensation of a hand on his shoulder, the strongly accented word spoken softly in his ear. It was firm in its singularity, breaking through the haze he felt forming within his mind as he gradually became more and more closed off from everything outside of what was going on in front of him – everything that was going on with her.

"Come."

A gentle tug accompanying the word this time. He complied. Unable to resist he allowed the hand to guide him away. He felt himself walking in the opposite way he'd run when he'd followed the trolley. He listened to the muffled thud of his footsteps on the floor, all other noises seemed so very distant now. Almost nonexistent. The hand remained on his shoulder, keeping him anchored in the small margin of reality he could allow himself to bear. The images of her convulsing, her eyes rolling back in her head was burned onto his memory, the sound of her screams a staccato soundtrack as they played through his mind.

He barely registered that he'd been led into a room off the corridor. He barely noticed the two others within sitting in silence. The hand changed position on his shoulder, the owner standing in front of him and putting his hand on top of it – pushing down gently as an indication for him to sit. He slumped into the chair behind him, barely registering the feel of the hand letting go and the sound of footsteps as the owner walked away. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. Letting go of all of his tension in one long exhalation he lowered his head and opened his eyes. For the first time he saw the two others in the room and could feel their eyes on him. He forced a shaky smile that dwindled. Similar smiles greeted him in reply as silence reigned in the room – save for the heavily accented voice outside speaking to someone beyond them.

"Sir! Phone call for you." Tobias called as he ran towards them, phone in hand. "It's Boris."

Langford sat up with a loud groan – propping himself up on one of his elbows as he reached up and took the phone from Tobias. "Hello?"

"_Langford. I need you to get Robbie to the hospital as soon as possible_."

Langford sat up properly now. "Why? What's happened?"

"_I don't know but he needs to be here. Whatever's going on it isn't looking good_."

"We'll be right there. Let me know if anything changes." Langford hung up the call and turned to look at Robbie who was growing pale. "You've got to come with me."

Robbie jumped up instantly without a word, stooping down to help Tobias get Langford up. Without order or suggestion Tobias went straight away to get Langford's vehicle, faultlessly catching the keys that Langford tossed to him. Within one minute he was pulling the vehicle up beside Robbie and Langford – jumping out to allow his superior access to the driver's seat. He hung close as he awaited further orders.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?!" Doctor Malone shouted as he walked over hurriedly, his voice ringing out and neatly combed back hair loosening with the combination of the breeze and his speed. "You're in no condition to drive!"

"I'm going to the hospital, Boris has called us in." Langford argued, wishing that the Doctor hadn't spotted him and chosen to interfere at that moment.

Rather surprisingly, Doctor Malone seemed to relent but held his firm tone and unyielding stance. "By the looks of you I'd suggest you head over there but as I said you're no fit state to be walking around let alone drive so I'm giving you two options. Either get your man here to drive you or come with me."

Lacking the energy to argue and aware of the urgency required in getting Robbie to the hospital, Langford gestured for Tobias to come over. "You might as well get back in."

With a swift nod, Tobias jumped back into the driver's seat and clicked on his seat belt. Robbie opened the passenger door behind him and climbed in, watching through the window as Langford heaved himself round to the passenger seat in the front and clambered into it.

With a squeal from the tyres and a puff of smoke they were on their way.

Having made his phone call and reassured himself that Robbie was on his way, Boris walked back into the visitor's room – pausing by the water cooler to fill up a cup he struggled to pull from the dispenser and carried it over to Sportacus. The aforementioned hero looked up at him, barely smiling as he accepted the cup of water that chilled his fingers and felt like ice as he sipped it and felt it slide down his throat. The combination of his muddy senses, jumbled nerves and shock from what he'd seen caused him to retch and vomit what little water he'd consumed onto the floor, causing Boris to jump back.

"I'm sorry." He fumbled, leaning over and resting his head in his hands, trying to stop his head from spinning.

"It's ok," Boris said, patting him on the shoulder and noticing Kit edging slowly towards them and sitting next to Sportacus.

Kit, for his part looked sheepish in his proximity to Boris and unsettled with being so close to him. It didn't surprise Boris when he tried to voice his discomfort. "Look, Boris, I'm so-"

"Don't apologise for actions you meant to carry out." Boris dismissed, waving his hand and turning away briefly as he walked towards the other side of the room. Facing the wall he continued, "You're still close to Robyn, I understand. But lashing out and causing friction isn't going to change anything or alleviate any of the problems we've got at the moment. It certainly isn't going to help Robyn get better."

"Lashing out like you did, you mean." There was an insolent spark in Kit's tone that struck a nerve with Boris and he could see it in the way the Russian turned stony green eyes upon him.

"I said what I said and I won't deny that. I want to, and will, try to make up for it with Robyn as soon as she's well enough to talk."

With that said, silence descended again. Each of the occupants lost in their own thoughts and waiting for news on the fight going on in the room just down the hall from them – news that came in the shape of Doctor Cole.


	30. Chapter 30

They waited patiently for the Doctor to speak. Observing the exhaustion prominent in his every movement, the deep frown lines still beaded with sweat that all added to his aged appearance – making him look suddenly older. They allowed him to sit down and compose himself as he reached into his trouser pocket for a handkerchief that he used to dab his forehead with. They waited for him to look up at them and gave him time to speak the words that hung heavy within him. He took a deep breath and allowed them to come.

"We've managed to stabilise her for the moment but it wasn't easy. She had a massive seizure which has caused significant strain on her heart. The cardiology team are monitoring her and based on their observations will act accordingly. For the moment we can't say what caused her seizure but we've taken all the steps we can to prevent another. I'm loathe to believe that this was a one off despite her...circumstances," He paused, testing the word before shaking his head and continuing. "But as a precaution she'll be started on a regime of medication to try and combat seizures in the future. Until the cardiology team know what we're dealing with we'll continue on this road until we need to review it. As soon as they know anything one of the cardiac consultants will come and see you."

It was a question no one wanted to ask but for their own state of mind they needed to know, "Is she likely to have suffered any more brain damage?"

The Doctor looked at Boris, the asker of the question, "We have no reason to believe so at the moment but we'll carry out further scans to rule it out. She's unconscious at the moment but we're going to allow her to come out of it on her own. We'll only intervene if we believe she's in danger of becoming comatose. I take it you've sent for Robbie."

"I have. Langford is bringing him in. They'll be here soon."

Doctor Cole nodded, "Good."

"Should one of us speak to Robyn's friend?" Sportacus spoke up, "She might be wondering where Robyn is if she's woken up and she's not there. What was her name...Megan?"

A look of surprise instantly arose on Doctor Cole's features that Nine didn't miss and queried instantly. "Why is it every time someone mentions Megan, your staff look like that?"

"Look like what about who?" Langford queried as he stumbled into the room followed closely by Robbie.

Ignoring Langford's question for the moment, the others focussed on Robbie and Doctor Cole filled him in on what had been said so far. Kit moved from his place near Sportacus to lend his substitute father much needed support as he was given the harrowing details of what had happened in the room before her seziure.

"Is she going to be ok?" Robbie just wanted to know.

Effortlessly switching from friend to physician, Doctor Cole gave him the best answer he could- an answer that neither promised anything nor could give false hope. "She's in good hands."

Gauging Robbie's evident distress from the answer and the way in which he'd been silently desperate to get to the hospital against his previous anger, Langford offered him an olive branch despite his own shaky confidence in what he was saying. "Robyn's a tough kid. This is just another scrape, she'll get through it."

"Speaking of scrapes," Nine spoke for the first time and took in Langford's current state, "What happened to you?"

"Don't ask." Langford warned gruffly glancing quickly in Robbie's direction before concentrating on his superior, "We have a problem. Ari and Dagur were working for Olaf."

It took a moment for Boris to react but when he did, it was explosive. "_Chyort voz'mi_!" He yelled, balling his fist as though to strike the wall but restraining himself from doing so.

"We're looking for him now. I locked them in the office as soon as I found out and got the screwballs onto it."

"_Screwballs_?" Kit paraphrased, intrigued by the name.

"Crazytown team, comprised of locals. We don't use them very often as they're not what you'd call reliable." Langford explained before continuing his report to Boris who seemed to be quickly recovering his composure, "I've got them to contact me if they think they have any sightings and send me pictures just be sure until our guys can get to them. So far I've had pictures of two rabbits, a duck, a woman that looks worryingly like the late Margaret Thatcher and a loaf of bread."

Despite the gravity of the current situation and his own feelings about the state of Robyn's health, Kit couldn't help but find humour in Langford's deadpan delivery of the list of sightings he'd had sent to him and laughed. The muffled sound of a phone ringing drew everyone's attention from Kit's laughter strangled face to Langford who immediately reached into his pocket. With the quickest snatch of a glance at the screen he accepted the call.

"Langford..." Langford listened intently to the voice on the other end of the phone, acknowledging what was said and disconnecting the call. Looking to Boris he filled him in, "Our boys have caught up with the screwballs, so far there's no sign but they think they're onto a trail. As soon as they've got him they're bringing him back to base. I'd better get back there. Are you coming with?"

It was a tangible proposition but one that Boris shied away from instantly. He wasn't ready to enter the outside world yet, to see his subordinates, to allow them to see him as he had become. His discomfort was something Langford picked up upon and he found an arm holding his.

"It's ok." Langford kept his voice low but allowed his features to harden, "You'll have to face them some time. Just remember they need you."

Ignoring the look Doctor Cole gave him and the doctor's outrage reddened face, Langford left the room. He knew all too well the reason for Doctor Cole's umbrage and was sure that when he again came face to face with Doctor Malone he would receive a similar reaction.

If not for Boris' presence in the room, Robbie would have allowed himself to relax on Langford's exit. His fear of what the Network division leader would do to him intensified his worry for Robyn and Kit's proximity did little to ease it. Finding himself under the scrutiny of the Russian's green eyes he shrunk further into himself until he could go no further. Mumbling an excuse about needing to use the toilet he edged his way out of the room and half ran down the corridor, desperate to put as much space between him and Boris as possible.

Confused by Robbie's sudden exit and Langford's mention of two people he hadn't met, Kit had questions he wanted answered. "I know I haven't been around town but what exactly has been happening? For starters who are Ari and Dag-wotsit and what have they got to do with Olaf?"

Between them, Sportacus and Nine told Kit everything they knew so far. They told him of Robyn's interrogation by the SIU and weren't surprised when the young clown became close to losing his temper, angry at their treatment of his ex-fiancée and how it had contributed to her collapse at home. They tentatively told him about Olaf's revelation of Robbie's secret tunnels, watching as his eyes darted to the door that Robbie had escaped through before he sat forward and placed his head in his hands.

"That stupid...stupid..." Kit struggled to find a word strong enough to use to describe Robbie's secrecy.

"Believe me, I know the feeling." Boris commented dryly, acutely aware of his own misgivings about the villain and the devastation his silence had caused. Turning his mind from the painful memories he raised a point from earlier, "So who is this Megan? What makes you react the way you do when she's mentioned, Doctor?"

The reprisal of the question forced Doctor Cole to reach for his handkerchief again, "She was pronounced brain stem dead this morning. Her condition hadn't changed since she came in three days ago."

Closed off from the world in the men's toilet, Robbie leaned heavily on the bank of sinks in front of him. Arms outstretched and head bowed he looked as though he carried the world on his shoulders. A familiar feeling rose in the pit of his stomach, a feeling as familiar as the blank masked face he found staring at him in the mirror save for a neat bullet hole in the centre of the forehead that hadn't been there on his last encounter with the being before him. The fiend whose name he hadn't forgotten.

A name he spoke with fear, "Mordayne!"

"Robbie Rotten," Mordayne's voice rasped through his mask, "It has been some time since we last saw you. You still recognise us."

"What do you want? What do you want with me? With Robyn? What did you do to her?"

Had Mordayne had a face, Robbie was certain he would have seen his lips drawing back into a tight smile laden with menace that flavoured his reply. "With you we want nothing. With the vessel we gave her a taste of what is to come."

Fearing the answer more than he feared the Judges, Robbie's voice quivered as he sought clarification. "What...what do you mean? What's going to happen to her?"

The answer was four words that would be burned into his memory forever.

"You will lose her."


End file.
